Echoes of Fear
by AmberLS123
Summary: Dominique's story. Takes place between "Echoes in my Mind" and "Echoes of the Past."
1. Chapter 1

A lone mouse walked out of the old library and headed across campus to his dorm. Dominique Flagrantia was the top medical student in his class at Oxford and a favorite among his professors. Graduation was only a few months away, and because of his achievements he'd already been offered several positions at some of the best clinics in London. The only thing left in his way was his final exams, which is why recently he'd been spending most of his days in the library studying.

Dominique was a quiet mouse with few friends and kept mostly to himself. Sure he didn't mind the occasional distraction here and there, but he rarely socialized and instead remained focused on his studies. He had white fur with dark hair that seemed to have an almost bluish tint to it in a certain light. His eyes were a rich golden brown, but they were mostly hidden by long bangs that partially covered his face. Unlike most of his peers he liked to keep his hair long; it just felt more comfortable that way. That and the fact that he had two piercings in his left ear set him apart in appearance from most of the male students on campus, but he didn't mind.

Once he reached his apartment building Dominique took the stairs up to his dorm room, skipping the last step. Despite his genius he had always been a tad superstitious, although that was mostly due to the influence of his grandmother. He had grown up hearing tales of legends and things of the supernatural, although he regarded it all mostly as fairytales. Skipping the thirteenth step was just one of the little habits he had developed as a result of his grandmother's influence.

Another habit Dominique had was that he always wore a certain necklace that she had given him as a boy. She told him it was a good luck charm and that it would warn him whenever an evil spirit was nearby. She made him swear to always wear it, and he had faithfully kept that promise through the years. Now that he was older he usually wore it under his shirt, but somehow having it near made him feel closer to her even now after she was gone.

Dominique let out a tired sigh as he unlocked the door and stepped inside his flat. He would be glad when finals were over so that he could look forward to a little bit of rest before starting his apprenticeship at the clinic. However, a few moments after he shut the door behind him and put his bag down, Dominique froze .

Something felt wrong. He couldn't place his finger on it, but something just did not feel right in the room. He reached up and touched the pendant around his neck, something he did unconsciously when he was stressed or uneasy, and as soon as he did the bad feeling intensified. The fur on the back of his neck stood on end as he had the terrifying sensation that he was being watched.

"W-Who's there?" Dominique called out nervously, his eyes darting all around the room. Feeling a small tingling sensation in his fingertips that seemed to radiate from the red stone, Dominique's heart pounded frantically in fear as a sudden image of a terrible creature flashed in his mind. _A vampire…?!_

No sooner had the thought entered his mind than he heard something drop down from the ceiling behind him. Dominique whirled around to see a figure crouching on the floor, but a moment later the shadow sprang at him before he could react. He grunted as his back hit the wall, feeling the breath whoosh out of him. Still trying to regain his breath, Dominique stared up as the figure slowly stalked toward him. It was a gray mouse with a light colored stripe down his muzzle, with black hair slicked back neatly. However the most distinctive feature about the mouse was a long jagged scar extending down from his brow across his left eye and cheek.

"S-Stay back!" he yelled, backing as far away from the vampire as he could. The other seemed to notice as Dominique clutched his necklace tightly in one hand, but the vampire only smiled darkly.

"Your little trinket won't help you," the gray mouse chuckled. Feeling panic building up in his chest Dominique made a mad lunge for the door, but the other mouse grabbed him and pinned him against the wall.

"Look, I-I don't want any trouble," Dominique stammered. "If you want my money, take it-"

"Silence," the mouse growled threateningly. Dominique obeyed, remaining froze in place as the mouse's scar began to glow with a bluish hue, feeling trapped by his dark gaze. "You, Dominique Flagrantia, have spent your entire life trying to escape a destiny that has been passed down through centuries of generations of your family; the life of a witch."

Dominique stared wide eyed at the mouse feeling more chills go down his spine. "H-How could you possibly know that?" the frightened mouse whispered.

"I've done my research, and I'm very good at reading people," the vampire grinned menacingly. Dominique stared as a bluish liquid seemed to drip from the mouse's scar, almost like blood. Whatever power he had used to tell Dominique's secrets must have drained him somehow; maybe the vampire was vulnerable…

Twisting in the vampire's grip, Dominique suddenly grabbed a heavy textbook that sat on a small side table next to them and swung it at his captor's head, but the other mouse knocked his hand away like an annoying fly buzzing around his head, which caused the book to fly across the room and crash into something. "Now, now," the vampire tutted, "be a good boy and don't make a fuss. I am a busy mouse and I'm not in the mood to play games." Dominique trembled as the vampire's fangs gleamed while he bared them in a feral snarl. He opened his mouth to let out a panicked scream but his world went black before any sound could tear out of his throat.

…...

Dominique let out a quiet moan as he came to. He sat up and rubbed his aching head, his mind seeming fuzzy. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he was startled to find that he was no longer in his dorm; this seemed more like the dungeon of a medieval castle. Feeling disoriented and with his heart pounding wildly in his chest Dominique tried to crawl to the door, but he only became more distraught when he discovered that his leg was shackled to the wall. He tugged on the short chain frantically, feeling panic closing in as his thoughts began to catch up with him. He had been kidnapped.

Realizing that he was close to hyperventilating Dominique had to force himself to calm down. Holding his head down Dominique inhaled and exhaled slowly, trying to regulate his breathing. He drew his legs up to his chin and rested with his elbows on his knees. Why anyone would kidnap him was a mystery. He had no enemies that he knew of, he barely had any friends. Dominique trembled at the memory of the scarred mouse who had taken him. From what he had said he knew exactly who Dominique was, but what did he want from him?

Dominique looked up as he heard the barred door open and saw a mouse enter the room carrying something. He glanced at the open door with a feeling a hope of escape rising inside, but with his foot chained to the wall there was nothing he could do at the moment. To his surprise the mouse came forward and set down a plate of food and a cup of water on the floor in front of him, and for the first time Dominique realized just how hungry he was. Moldy bread and stale water, a fitting meal for a prisoner, he thought bleakly. Still, it was better than nothing at all and he slowly began to eat. At least the fact that they were feeding him meant that they wanted him alive, for now.

"Thank you," Dominique said politely, still grateful for the meal, if it could even be called that. The other mouse didn't reply and only flattened his ears when he heard Dominique speak. As Dominique ate, he studied the other more carefully, who sat quietly nearby waiting to take the plate and cup back. The mouse had brown fur and dark brown hair, which looked dirty and unkempt. He appeared to be young, and Dominique estimated that he might be in his early twenties, around the same age as himself. Dominique's ears lowered when he saw both recent and fading bruises along with old scars on the young mouse's body. To Dominique's trained medical eye some of the injuries seemed to have even been as bad as broken bones that hadn't been set properly in order to heal.

A thought suddenly hit Dominique. If this cell was indeed part of a castle, then was this mouse a servant? He almost had to be based on the threadbare tattered clothes he was wearing and his submissive actions, the way he kept his eyes lowered. Dominique repressed a shudder as he remembered how merciless the mouse who had attacked him in his dorm room had been and wondered if he was the same one who had abused the mouse before him. Whoever he was, he must be a powerful and rich mouse to even own servants. Unless the vampire was working on behalf of someone else…

"Can you tell me where I am?" Dominique asked the servant hopefully. The other mouse looked up briefly with fear in his eyes and trembled as he spoke.

"_Îmi pare rău, domnule. Nu înțeleg_."

He doesn't speak English, Dominique thought dejectedly. He ate in silence from then on and finished some minutes later. The servant looked at him nervously again as if to ask if he could remove them, but a moment later both mice looked up as someone else entered the room. He was impressive looking character, dressed in fine clothing that was perfectly tailored for him, and his dark gray fur and raven black hair pulled into a ponytail by a silk ribbon gave him an elegant but dark appearance. Dominique felt another chill run down his spine as he sensed that it was another vampire. His heart sank even further when the one who had taken him from his home followed close behind. As soon as the pair entered the room, the slave seemed to tense even more and it was clear that he was trembling. He glanced at the first mouse, and with just a look the servant fled out the door as fast as his legs could carry him, taking the plate and cup with him.

Dominique felt his heart rate quicken as he was now left alone with the two vampires. The first watched him for a moment before turning to the other. "You're certain this is the right one?" he asked. Dominique heard the slight foreign accent, though he didn't recognize where it was from.

The mouse with the scar rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm certain. You've never doubted my abilities before."

"This was a very important task, Lars, which is why I entrusted it to you in the first place. I don't want any mistakes on this one." Dominique stared up at the mouse in fear, feeling frozen in place as those crimson eyes studied him carefully. "I can't say I've ever had the opportunity to meet a male witch before," the mouse smiled, revealing his own set of fangs.

"I-I'm afraid you have me mistaken for someone else, s-sir," Dominique stammered nervously, unable to keep his voice from shaking.

Dominique flinched when the vampire rolled his eyes and glared at him in annoyance. "Are you not Dominique Flagrantia?"

"Y-Yes sir," Dominique replied again as politely as he could.

Again the mouse seemed to be annoyed by Dominique's response, and Lars suddenly chuckled in amusement. The other vampire glared at Lars, who laughed in amusement "Don't throw a tantrum, Sir Stefan," Lars teased. "He's being polite after all."

"Don't call me that," the other mouse growled at Lars before turning his stern gaze back to Dominique. "I am _Count _Fane cel Rau," he said, placing emphasis on his title, "and you will address me as such."

"I-I'm sorry, Count," Dominique apologized quickly, hoping to avoid offending his captor further. "I'm not familiar with the customs... here," he ended weakly, still having no idea where he actually was. "But I'm not a-"

"Don't try to deny your heritage," Fane snapped. "I know more about you than even you do, so I will know if you try to hide anything from me." Before Dominique could respond Fane turned to leave the room. "Bring him," he instructed to Lars, who crossed his arms and leaned against the wall seeming bored.

"Bring him yourself," Lars retorted. "I've done all the work so far, I'm not your dog to fetch everything for you." He chuckled at Fane's irritated reaction. "Besides, I'm sure he knows better than to try to run."

"He'd better," Fane growled as he swiftly unlocked the shackle around Dominique's ankle before jerking him off the floor roughly. "Move," Fane ordered, shoving him forward. Dominique obeyed, just glad to get out of that cell.

Fane led the way and walked a few paces in front of Dominique with Lars following behind them. Dominique stared at his surroundings impressed as they walked through the castle, his eyes taking in the huge ceilings and ornate decorations and furniture. His steps gradually slowed as he looked around until he began to fall behind.

"Stop daydreaming, boy," Lars said, giving Dominique a shove forward which caused him to bump into Fane. Dominique trembled in fear as Fane turned and glared. Lars snickered and Fane glared at him in annoyance before grabbing Dominique's arm and dragging him the rest of the way. When they came to one of the doors Fane opened it and tossed Dominique inside, causing him to trip and fall. As he looked up Dominique saw that they were in what looked to be a large library or office, with tall bookshelves reaching all the way to the ceiling.

"Have a seat," Fane instructed. Again Dominique did as he was told, hoping that cooperating would keep him alive. After taking a seat at the huge mahogany desk, Dominique watched as Fane removed a certain book from one of the shelves and placed it down in front of him, causing a small cloud of dust to rise from the impact. Not sure of what to do, Dominique glanced up at Fane confusedly, but when he looked back down at the book again something seemed to click in his mind. He remembered a tale his grandmother once told him of an ancient tome written nearly a millennia ago that had been passed down through generations of their family. Only the book had been missing for centuries...

"It can't be," Dominique breathed. "Is this…?"

"Azu Vithel," Fane finished for him, noting how Dominique seemed to recognize it.

Dominique stared at the book, gently running his fingers along the worn cover. "I thought it was lost… how do you have it?"

"How I got it is of no importance," Fane replied with a careless wave of his hand. "What is of any significance is how you can use it."

Dominique slowly opened the book and flipped through it, his eyes widening more and more as he scanned the pages. He had never seen such powerful spells before.

Fane noticed how closely Dominique examined the pages. "Can you read it?" Dominique glanced up at Fane and swallowed nervously before turning back to the book. The text was written in a language he had never seen before, but somehow the symbols and foreign letters made sense to him. "Well?" Fane said impatiently.

"I-I don't know what language this is, but somehow I can feel what is written," Dominique tried to explain. "It's as if the symbols and words turn into English in front of my eyes… Like this," Dominique pointed to one passage on the page. "Some of this is in Latin, but these letters are some other language."

"But you can understand it?" Fane asked.

"Yes," Dominique nodded. "It's instructions for a spell to heal someone who is sick."

Fane stepped over and flipped to a certain page and pointed at it. "And that…?" Dominique looked where Fane was pointing and read the paragraph intently. From the worn edges and looser binding it seemed that this passage had been consulted more often than the others. "This one is a little simpler to understand since it's written mostly in Latin," Dominique remarked half to himself. He studied the text for a moment and suddenly his eyes grew wide. "The curse of the doppelganger," he gasped. He looked up at Fane, who was smiling at his reaction. "You mean you want me to perform this ritual-?"

"Already done," Fane dismissed.

Dominique looked confused. "Then what do you need me for-?"

"I'm getting to that," Fane interrupted with a warning glare. It had the desired affect as Dominique fell silent, dropping his eyes down to the floor. "As I was saying, I performed this spell myself. The Latin was easy enough to translate, and once I acquired the doppelganger it was a simple enough task. However, there was a slight… mishap, and the spell was broken. Now I'm in need of a much more permanent solution."

"Solution for what?" Dominique asked confused. "What are you trying to accomplish?" Dominique trailed off as the answer came to him. "Y-You're trying to bring someone back from the dead."

"Precisely," Fane replied with a dark smile. "This is the book that was used to preserve the soul, so I assume that it contains other solutions to revive the spirit. The problem, as you can imagine, is the difficulty of translating the rest of the text. That's where you come in."

"But why me?" Dominique asked. "There are plenty other witches in the world."

"But none that could read it. One of the previous owners of this book was a witch who performed the ritual for preserving the the soul I'm looking to revive. Her name was Selena, and according to my research," Fane smirked, "she was one of your ancestors."

Dominique stared. "You traced my family's history?! But why?"

"Because your ancestors wrote this book," Fane said, tapping his finger on the page. "You come from a long line of powerful witches, which is why I spent the time doing the research in the first place; to find you."

"But I'm not a witch!" Dominique burst out. "Why do you need me, why not some other witch-"

"You think I haven't tried that?!" Fane snapped, slamming his hands on the desk and startling Dominique. "I've spent countless decades interrogating the strongest witches in the world, yet none of them could make sense of this book. None except you. Which proves that only someone in your bloodline can read it."

"But I'm not even a practicing witch," Dominique insisted. "I learned a little from my grandmother, and I used to sneak and read her books at night, but I never took the art up myself."

"Really?" Fane smirked. Dominique gasped as Fane reached inside his vest pocket and held up Dominique's necklace dangling from its silver chain.

"T-That was a gift from my grandmother…" Dominique said quietly, reaching out for it but Fane kept it just out of his grasp.

"A grandmother who wanted to protect her only grandson against evil forces," Fane chuckled, startling Dominique as he guessed the trinket's purpose. "Didn't do much good did it, since that was supposed to keep vampires like Lars and me away from you."

Dominique's ears lowered. "So I'm a little superstitious. It doesn't make me a witch."

"This proves differently," Fane said, pointing at the book. "Deny it all you want, but witchcraft is in your blood. Somewhere in this book must be another spell that tells how to bring someone back from the dead, and you are going to find it for me."

Dominique put on a brave face trying to hide his fear. "A-And if I refuse?" he dared to ask.

Fane smirked as he held up the necklace again, as if admiring the way the red stone sparkled in the light from the fireplace. Then just as calmly, Fane clutched the stone in his fist and slowly ground it to dust before dropping the pieces in front of Damien on the desk. "Don't disappoint me as your ancestor Selena did, or I can promise you that history will repeat itself."

Dominique stared wide eyed at the destroyed necklace and felt his heart pounding in fear at Fane's threat. As Fane turned to go, he paused at one of the bookshelves and seemed to study it for a few seconds before growling irately. Dominique watched him storm out, and a few moments later he could hear Fane's angry shouts on the other side of the door along with what sounded like blows landing, and Dominique trembled when he heard a servant's pleading voice in between the sounds. What was happening out there? The answer to the question was pretty obvious, but still Dominique wasn't sure he wanted to believe it. That out there could be him, especially if he refused to cooperate with his captor. He had to have an answer ready before Fane came back, but he wanted nothing to do with this kind of magic. But if he said no, then he would end up like whoever was getting beaten on the other side of that door. It seemed like Fane was the one in charge, and part of Dominique wondered if a mouse as powerful as Lars would work for him, then just what was Fane himself capable of? He wanted to get out of that chair and see for himself, but the rational part of his brain screamed at him to stay put. Now that he had seen a real vampire for himself Dominique reluctantly realized that he was a little curious about them. No, his mind told him. There was nothing logical in it for him to walk straight over to danger. Besides, the door was sure to be locked anyway. But then again he could try to look through the keyhole... He needed to learn as much about his captors as he could, including their strengths and weaknesses. However he couldn't be sure until he checked.

While Dominique sat trying to decide what actions, if any, he should take, his ears perked up as he caught something familiar. It sounded like the servant was begging in different languages, but Dominique recognized one of them. It was a language he knew well and had been taught since he was young. The servant was speaking French. Dominique recognized the word that were mixed between the other languages. He heard the servant plead 'Please', 'I'm sorry' and 'Master', all in clear French. That was it. His curiosity got the better of him. After finally making up his mind Dominique quietly got out of his chair and tiptoed across the room and knelt by the door, putting his eye to the keyhole. What he saw only confirmed his fears as he witnessed Fane's brutality lash out onto this servant. No matter how badly he wanted to look away Dominique couldn't help staring at the scene in front of him with growing horror, and it took several moments for him to snap out of it and realize that he needed to get back in the chair before Fane came back in the room and noticed his actions.

With his heart beating frantically Dominique went back to the chair as fast and as quietly as he possibly could. Just as he was about to lower himself into the chair the door opened, causing Dominique to jump and practically fall the rest of the way into the chair. Shaking nervously, he turned around expecting to see Fane glaring over his shoulder. However relief flooded him as he saw that it was only the beaten servant who entered. Dominique watched silently as the mouse went to the area of the shelves that Fane had looked at before he left, and began to take books down and rearranged them in a different order. He could see the servant carefully rethink where he placed each book and saw his hands trembling violently as he was unsure and nervous. Some of the books were put aside as it seemed they didn't belong there, but somewhere else entirely. The servant carefully picked up the books and walked towards another shelf, closer to Dominique. Now that Dominique realized he might have a chance to communicate with someone his mind filled with questions to ask.

"_Excusez-moi_," Dominique said, feeling hopeful when the servant turned to him. "_Parlez-vous français_?"

"_O-oui, Monsieur_," the servant answered, seeming surprised. Dominique's heart leapt, finally he might get some answers!

"Where am I?" he asked still speaking in French, keeping his voice low in case Fane might be nearby to hear.

"The castle of Master Fane cel Rau, Monsieur," the other answered.

"I mean what country?" Dominique asked earnestly, causing the other to cast his eyes down again.

"I'm sorry, Monsieur, please forgive me," he quickly apologized. "R-Romania, Monsieur."

Dominique's ears lowered. "It's ok…" he trailed off as the reality hit him. Romania… he was so far away from home… "Why would they bring me all the way here?" Dominque asked desperately, feeling himself beginning to break down. "I'm just a student who minds his own business and stays out of trouble! I told him I'm not a witch, I can't do what he's expecting me to do! Why won't he believe me?!"

As Dominique became more frantic his words came faster and faster until the servant fell facedown at his feet, cringing and trembling uncontrollably. "Please, Monsieur! I'm sorry, I-I do not know! Please, forgive me, Monsieur, I-I don't know…"

Dominique stared in shock at the distraught mouse, who was clinging to the hem of his pants and actually kissing his feet as he begged for forgiveness.

"I-It's ok," Dominique said once he finally found his voice. The servant still remained bowed at his feet so Dominique reached down and carefully removed his hands. The other mouse flinched at the touch and Dominique hated himself for making him afraid of him. "I'm not angry, I promise. I'm just… well, scared."

The other mouse did as he thought Dominique wanted and sat back up, but still remained on his knees with his head bowed reverently. Dominique felt chills as he stared at the servant trembling in front of him. If the mice who had taken him had done something to terrify this mouse this much, then what would they do to him?

"What's your name?" Dominique asked gently.

"D-Damien, Monsieur," the servant answered.

"Damien," Dominique repeated, causing the other to glance up nervously through the bangs partially covering his face as he still kept his head bowed. "A French name like mine," Dominique smiled. However, his smile faded as Dominique noticed the bruises forming on Damien's body. "Why were you beaten?" Dominique asked, although as soon as the words left his mouth he wished he hadn't asked.

"For not returning the Master's books where they belong, Monsieur," Damien answered matter-of-factly. Dominique could barely believe his ears that Fane would beat his servant over something as trivial as his books not being kept in a certain order.

"How can he beat you like that for something as unimportant as books?" Dominique asked incredibly.

"M-Master does as he pleases, Monsieur."

That statement gave Dominique chills. If Fane became upset over something small like that then how much worse would it be if he were to become really angry? Dominique gulped nervously before continuing his questioning.

"I overheard you speaking in French earlier. But what were the other languages?"

"Français, Italien, et Roumain, Monsieur," Damien answered.

"Really? That's impressive," Dominique smiled, trying to make Damien feel more comfortable, but it didn't seem to be helping. A thought crossed Dominique's mind and he glanced at the door in case Lars or Fane walked back in. "Damien, can you tell me how close the nearest town is?"

Damien hesitated briefly before replying. "About five miles, Monsieur."

Dominique's heart sank. So even if he did manage to escape it would be a long trek through mountainous wilderness before he even reached civilization. "Are there any phones here?" Damien looked at him confused. Surely someone who lived in a castle could afford a phone! "You know, a telephone?" Dominique asked a little more urgently. "To call the police?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Fane walked through the door. Seeing his Master enter the room Damien immediately went back to replacing the books in their proper place.

"_Je peux parler français aussi_," Fane said with a devious smirk, causing chills to run down Dominique's spine. "And no, there isn't a telephone within a hundred miles of here. So… have you come to a decision yet?"

Dominique took a deep breath before answering. "What you're asking of me is far beyond the very laws of physics and power. You're talking about reversing the process of life and death-"

"But it can be done," Fane stated more than asked. He smiled at Dominique's hesitation.

"No, you don't understand," Dominique insisted. "You're tampering with supernatural powers far beyond your comprehension. The kind of black magic required to accomplish such a feat is extremely dangerous, it's not something that you can just play around with-!"

"Do I look like I'm 'playing'?" Fane hissed threateningly, causing Dominique's ears to fold back.

"Even if it was possible, I'm not capable of doing it myself," Dominique insisted. "Just because my ancestors were powerful witches doesn't mean that I am. Our family has been plagued by witchcraft for centuries, and it always comes with a price. A price I will not pay!"

"Am I to understand your answer is-"

"No," Dominique interrupted firmly.

"No?" Fane repeated. Dominique trembled as the vampire glared at him dangerously, but he still refused and stood his ground.

"N-No. I can't… I _won't_ get involved with this kind of sorcery."

A long silence followed Dominique's declaration before Fane gave any sign of response. "Wrong answer."

* * *

**Author's Notes: OMG this fic has been all that I think about lately XD**

**Dominique is my newest OC. He'll be a sort of important character in Echoes of the Past, but I also really wanted to tell his story firsthand. So this pretty much takes place between Echoes in my Mind and Echoes of the Past (which is in progress). A between-the-sequel thing I guess? So far I plan for it to be in 3 parts, but that may change. As may the title (seriously, I suck at titles).**

**But anyway, this is basically the story of how Dominique came to be at Fane's castle. That's all I can really say without spoiling Echoes of the Past... But yeah, from here on out, things get pretty bad for Dominique... **

**Also I owe a HUGE huge huge huge thank you to mimmime who is co-writing this with me. Seriously I couldn't get it done without her help 3 And also thank you to NightMagican for the parts with Lars... I've never written him before so she's helping me keep him in character XD**

**Damien (c)mimmime**  
**Lars Maurus (c)NightMagican**  
**Dominique, Fane (c)Me**


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING! Violence and torture scenes ahead, continue at your own risk...**

* * *

Dominique trembled in fear and seemed to be frozen in place as he stared up into Fane's red eyes. But as panic took over an instant later he scrambled out of the chair and sprinted out the door as fast as he possibly could. In the back of his mind he knew it was pointless to try to outrun a vampire, but at that moment he didn't care. All he knew was that he HAD to get out of there.

As Dominique fled for his life Fane sighed tiredly and leaned against the doorframe. Why did they always have to run? It was just more work and pointless anyway. Normally Fane would enjoy the chase but his patience was already running low. This witch was making more trouble for him than he needed and a growing headache didn't help.

At that moment Lars passed by and stopped when he saw Fane standing with the door open. "You let him run, didn't you?" Lars chuckled. Fane rolled his eye irately and groaned at Lars. "How much of a head start should we give him?"

Fane sighed irately and rubbed his head. "You go ahead. I'm not in the mood."

"More fun for me then," Lars smirked darkly as he stretched his arms. "Have to stay in shape after all." A moment later he was gone.

Dominique's heart pounded as he ran through what seemed like endless hallways and flights of stairs. Most of the doors he tried were locked, and the ones that did open only led to more rooms and hallways. But as he descended another stairway Dominique glanced out of a window and felt a small bit of hope as he saw he was closer to the ground now. As long as he kept going down he would have to reach the ground level at some point. He passed by several servants but none seemed to understand him when he asked for directions, and they would back away or even flee from him as if they could sense that he was being chased and they would not risk interfering. As he ran Dominique kept glancing over his shoulder expecting Fane to pounce on him at any minute, but for some strange reason it looked like the vampire wasn't following him. However Dominique didn't dare stop.

As he came to one last flight of stairs Dominique saw that it opened up into a large foyer with a huge oak door. That had to be the main entrance to the castle. He sprinted down the stairs as fast as he could but tripped on the last few steps and falling flat on his face, but the hope rising in his chest made him push himself back up. He rushed to the door and took hold of the big doorknob and pulled with all his might. As the door creaked open he felt a cold blast of air hit his face, and a relieved smile spread on his face. He had a long way to go yet, but he could hardly believe he had escaped, he was finally free!

Just as he was about to set foot outside Dominique felt something grab him from behind and lift him off the ground, tossing him back inside. Dominique grunted as he landed hard on the floor, his heart sinking as he looked up to see Lars looming over him. He had been so close…

As Lars came toward him Dominique scrambled on his hands and knees to get away but Lars grabbed his ankle. Dominique frantically clawed at the floor trying to find some sort of hold but Lars dragged him back and hoisted him up on his feet by the scruff of his neck. Although his mind was screaming in horror Dominique refused to simply give in. He struggled violently in Lars' grasp and struck out at the vampire's face with his right hand, but Lars easily caught his wrist in midair and squeezed it tightly. Dominique sank to his knees with a cry of pain as he felt the bones in his wrist and hand being crushed.

"Now that was stupid," Lars remarked, tightening his grip. "Really, just how far did you expect to get? As if a clumsy mortal like you could outrun a vampire…"

"L-Let go," Dominique begged, tears welling up in his eyes as pain shot down his arm. "P-Please let go…!"

"So you can try to run away again? I don't think so," Lars sneered as he twisted Dominique's arm sharply, causing him to scream. "You think that's painful? You haven't felt pain yet…"

Dominique cried out as Lars kept a tight hold on his right wrist and dragged him away. That might have been his last chance at freedom, and Dominique was terrified of what they would do to him for trying to escape. Dominique whimpered as bolts of pain continuously shot up his arm, and since struggling only caused more pain he could no longer bring himself to resist. Dominique stumbled often as Lars dragged him along, and to Dominique's horror he recognized where they were going. It was the one route in the castle Dominique knew. They were going back to the dungeons.

"N-No, please, let me go," Dominique begged desperately.

"Stop whimpering and save your breath; you'll need it before we're done playing with you," Lars retorted, giving a sharp tug on Dominique's arm for emphasis. Dominique fell silent after that, except for a few more whimpers that escaped when he felt sudden pain at Lars' continuously pulling his wrist. He trembled in fear as they approached his cell, but to Dominique's surprise Lars didn't throw him inside and continued to drag him on. They went on further into the dungeons past many other cells, and Dominique stared at the other prisoners inside. He grew more horrified seeing dead rotting bodies inside the cells, and the few who were still breathing were barely alive, left behind to waste away.

The stench of death grew worse and worse as they passed the rows of cells. Dominique looked up when Lars stopped at a large wooden door. He shivered as a cold blast of air came from the room as Lars opened the door and grunted when Lars threw him inside, causing him to fall on his hands and knees. Clutching his injured wrist Dominique stared in horror at the various torture devices in the room. The walls were stained with blood of past victims and Dominique gagged at the horrible stench of rotten corpses filling the air and his eyes fell on bones littering the room. He wondered how many had died in here, or who were tortured and then left to rot, not even having their bodies removed after. Then it hit him that he might soon become one of those victims…

He was broken out of these terrified thoughts when Fane walked in just a few moments later with his servant following nervously behind, who looked just as terrified as Dominique felt. He trembled even more as he feared what was about to happen.

"So… what shall we do to you first?" Lars smirked as he rolled up his sleeves. "I'm a fan of 'the rack' myself… What do you think?" Dominique only stared speechlessly, his brain already overloaded from panic and terror.

"I have an idea or two," Fane answered with the same devious smirk. He snapped an order at Damien, who quickly retrieved something from the wall and handed it to Fane with trembling hands. To Dominique's horror he saw that the object Fane was uncoiling was a whip.

"The old fashioned way, then," Lars chuckled as he jerked Dominique up off the floor. Within seconds he ripped off Dominique's vest and shirt, leaving him bare from the waist up. By this point Dominique was shivering uncontrollably, and he let out a grunt of pain as Lars bound his wrists together with a length of rope, tying the other end to the wall before shoving Dominique back down on his knees.

"Care to do the honors?" Fane asked, handing Lars the whip.

"With pleasure," Lars replied darkly, giving the whip an experimental flick and cracking it just by Dominique's ear. The loud snap caused Dominique to yelp, even though it hadn't touched him. He was already flinching and the real torture hadn't even begun yet.

Fane moved to stand in front of Dominique so that he could see his face. "This is your last chance, witch," he hissed, gripping Dominique's chin forcefully.

Dominique shook his head, trying to remain brave despite the fact that he was too terrified to even speak. After glaring at Dominique for a moment Fane gave a slight nod, and Lars brought the whip down across Dominique's back. Dominique gasped as the pain nearly took his breath away, and as the second blow hit he let out a sharp cry, arching his back as the whip cut into his skin. Unconsciously he twisted his body so that his back was away from Lars and he held up his arms to block, but as another lash came down he realized it was of no use. He curled into a ball to protect his vital organs and tried to cover his face as best he could with his bound hands, causing most of the lashes to fall on his back. Soon his fur was stained red with his own blood and his screams scratched his throat, like a thousand glass pieces tearing him up from the inside out.

After a few minutes Fane held his hand up and Lars stopped. Dominique whimpered and groaned in agony, feeling the pain fully settle into his back.

"It's pointless to resist, you know," Fane tutted. "I'm not asking much, really. It's just a couple of spells. Complicated, maybe, but I'm sure you could handle it."

"I… I-I don't believe in... using my p-powers that way," Dominique replied weakly.

"Then you admit that you do have powers," Fane remarked, his gaze suddenly darker. "You said earlier that you were not a witch… which means you've lied to me."

"N-No, wait, t-that's not what I meant! I-I don't know how to use them… Ah!" Dominique screamed as the whip struck him again.

"You're trying my patience," Fane hissed. "Do you have powers or not? Answer me, witch!"

"Y-Ye...N-... I-I don't know!" Dominique cried desperately, clutching his head and flinching as he feared being struck by the whip again. "I-It's in my blood but I've n-never tried to cast spells myself!"

"But technically you should have the ability to do so, correct?" Dominique nodded hesitantly. Fane seemed to think for few long moments before continuing. "You mentioned a grandmother," Fane remarked, causing Dominique to glance up briefly. "What of your parents? Did they have experience with magic as well?"

Dominique looked down again and shook his head. "M-My mother gave birth to me when she was sixteen years old," he explained tiredly, having to pause frequently in between phrases to catch his breath from screaming so much. "T-The father left as soon as he found out she was pregnant. My mother was m-mentally unstable, a-and eventually had to be admitted into a sanatorium, where she d-died when I was two years old."

"Which left your grandmother to raise you," Fane finished. Dominique nodded weakly and fell silent as the memories washed over him. "Tell me more about her," Fane demanded. When Dominique didn't respond right away Lars brought the whip down once more, causing him to let out a strangled cry.

"Her… H-Her name was... Estelle," Dominique gasped, wincing in pain. "Her h-husband Jacques... m-my grandfather... passed away when I was young. I b-barely remember him..." Dominique hurriedly continued as he saw Fane was getting annoyed again. "H-He owned a wealthy business company, and when he died he left e-every penny to Estelle and me, to ensure we were well taken care of. Then just a f-few years ago she sold the company a-and used the money to pay for my tuition-"

Dominique screamed as the lash bit into his back again when Fane wasn't satisfied with that answer. "I don't care about that," Fane yelled. "I want to know about her involvement with witchcraft!"

"S-She was… j-just a healer!" Dominique cried desperately, cringing as he feared being struck again. "S-She only knew simple spells and c-cures for common illnesses. Her… Her ancestors were Parisian g-gypsies, but she only knew what had been passed down through each generation... so a-a lot of that knowledge was lost o-over the years. And in our family e-every third or fourth generation is driven insane and d-dies at a very young age. M-My own mother died in the asylum just w-weeks after her eighteenth birthday…" Dominique buried his face in his hands. "T-That's why I d-don't want get involved with the dark arts. I've worked hard to accomplish what I have, and n-now that my life has purpose I don't want this witchcraft to poison my heart and consume my mind to ultimately destroy me... And I d-don't want it to take my future children either."

"I'd stop focusing so much on the future and worry more about the present if I were you," Lars mocked. "Won't be much of a future if you were to be stuck down here with me," he added, cracking the whip again for emphasis.

"You have only one purpose now, and that is to do as I tell you," Fane added, ignoring Dominique's whimpers. "So unless you want your future to end right here in this dungeon I suggest you follow my orders!"

Dominique fell silent in absolute terror. If he continued to resist then they would beat him more, and at this rate Dominique didn't think he would last much longer. But even if he did agree to do whatever Fane wanted, what if he failed? And if he did succeed, as soon as they were done with him they'd kill him. He was a dead mouse no matter what...

"This is getting us nowhere," Lars growled impatiently. He threw the bloodied whip at Damien and pushed past him to the opposite wall where more weapons and tools hung. He grabbed another whip, one that had nine tails instead of one long lash, and went back to stand behind Dominique. Fane watched the whole thing carefully, and as Lars raised his arm to strike Fane saw with alarm that his scar was glowing. That meant he was using his power to put his full strength behind the blow. A strike like that would kill the boy as he was already weakened.

With not much time to act Fane frantically grabbed his slave and shoved him toward them just as Lars brought the whip down. Damien instantly cried out as the blow struck his side, leaving deep gashes across his arm and cheek. The force behind the blow combined with his momentum from being pushed caused Damien to fall backward and trip over Dominique, who groaned painfully when Damien's legs made contact with his side. He could hear Damien whimpering and turned his head to see the servant curled up into a ball, clutching his arm tightly as blood seeped from the wounds. Dominique stared wide eyed when he noticed that the whip had cut through the flesh down to the bone, and he trembled uncontrollably as it dawned on him that this whole time Lars had been holding back. In the weakened state he was in a blow like that probably would have killed him…

Fane was of the same mind, which was precisely why he threw Damien in the way to begin with. "Are you out of your mind?!" Fane raged angrily.

"What?!" Lars yelled back. "I thought you wanted information out of him!"

"Information, yes! Not his entire meat and blood! I need him alive, you idiot!"

"You don't like the way I do it, then _you _take over." Lars shoved the whip in Fane's hands and the two vampires locked gazes, glaring at each other. "Do your own dirty work for once," Lars hissed before storming out the door.

Fane stood trembling in rage for a moment, gripping the handle of the whip tightly. With a deep growl he suddenly threw the nine tailed whip at Damien furiously. "_Adu-mi prima biciul!_"

Damien obediently lifted himself off the floor with silent grunts of pain. Dominique could see how the servant struggled to get up with his injured arm trembling terribly. As fast as he could, Damien found the whip Lars had used before and handed it to his Master.

It took every ounce of Fane's self control to hold back his true strength to keep from killing Dominique. However, every lash was as painful as ever. Dominique screamed until he felt his own voice scratch his throat. Between every blow Fane would wait a second or two so the pain truly settled in before he continued. The tears were streaming down Dominique's face. He had never felt such pain before. It didn't take long before he started pleading for Fane to stop between his screams, but it didn't happen. Fane showed no mercy towards the tied up mouse.

After some time Fane stopped, panting slightly from the effort. "I'm getting tired of these games," he hissed. "Now are you ready to see reason, or shall I continue?"

"N-N-No, please…!" Dominique begged fearfully. Shaking in absolute terror he clutched his head in his hands and finally gave in. "I… I-I'll do w-whatever you want… P-Please… J-just please… stop..."

Fane smiled at the site of the beaten mouse cowering at his feet. "At last you've come to your senses," he smirked at his defeated captive. As Fane was about to leave the room he pushed Damien harshly to the floor. "_Curățați mizeria asta! Și l-bandaj corespunzător înainte de a il aduce la bibliotecă. Nu vreau ca el să sângereze peste tot. Vreau să-l gata înainte de apusul soarelui_."

"_D-Da Maestru_," Damien replied fearfully as Fane left the room. Still half conscious from the beating Dominique barely noticed as Damien rushed to fulfill Fane's orders and dragged him over to a table on the other side of the room. The slave struggled greatly but he managed to get Dominique off the floor and onto the table.

Dominique trembled when he saw his blood smeared on the floor and felt nauseated as the room seemed to spin, and he could feel his pulse pounding in his ears. The pain in his body was so great it was overwhelming, but in the back of his mind Dominique realized his body was going into shock from the loss of blood and trauma from being tortured so severely. Even as weak and disoriented as he felt he knew he had to calm down before he died of shock. Feeling as if his heart was about to beat right out of his chest Dominique laid very still. He was close to hyperventilating so he focused on trying to control his rapid shallow breathing. That seemed to help a little and his heart rate gradually slowed back down close to normal. He could feel the blood still seeping out of his wounds and knew he needed to staunch the bleeding soon, but with his hands still bound there was nothing he could do.

Dazed with the pain storming through his body and the fact that Dominique finally managed to relax some, he looked over at the servant, who cleaned the floor as best he could. His eyes slowly closed as Dominique didn't want to move. He just wanted sleep. He wanted out of this horrid place. Exhaustion began to creep into his bones but he fought with all his might to keep his eyes open, knowing that if he fell asleep in this state with no immediate medical treatment he might not ever wake up.

Dominique trembled as he felt someone approach and looked up to see Fane's slave standing beside him. Damien did his best to be gentle with Dominique as he untied his hands and cleaned his wounds. The beaten mouse would let out painful whimpers and Damien would apologize wildly, however his Master had ordered him to clean and bandage Dominique's wounds, so that was what he would do.

"Why a-aren't you c-cleaning your own wounds?" Dominique asked in French, seeing that Damien hadn't touched his injured arm.

"Master didn't order me to, Monsieur." Dominique was shocked to hear his reply. Damien would put Fane's orders above his own health?

"B-but you… you have to c-clean them… or th-they'll get infected…"

"M-Master didn't…"

"Y-you can't let him… refuse you m-medical attention… Y-you could die f-from an infection...!"

"P-please, Monsieur," Damien pleaded, "W-we have to go now, Monsieur…"

Not having the strength to argue about Damien's health, Dominique closed his eyes again. He didn't want to have to face Fane again so soon. "N-Not yet; please, just l-let me rest…" he replied, almost begging.

Damien began to worry more as time passed. With no windows in the dungeons he had no idea what time of day it was, but he knew it had to be close to sunset. "P-Please, Monsieur," Damien pleaded frantically. "Master will be angry…"

Dominique trembled more at the mention of Fane. He tried to lift himself up but the pain in his back was just too much, and was hindered more by his broken wrist. He fell back down with an agonized groan and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. "I… I can't… I-It hurts…!"

"P-please, Monsieur… Master doesn't care if it hurts." Dominique glanced up at Damien. There was something in his voice that caught Dominique's attention. Had Damien been tortured before? Had he been tortured worse that he had been just now? "If Master's orders aren't fulfilled it will be a lot worse, Monsieur…" Those words confirmed Dominique's suspicion. Damien had been tortured worse than he had and Dominique didn't even want to imagine what hell this mouse had been through.

Dominique took a shaky breath, but he still didn't think he had the strength to stand, let alone walk. "C-Can you h-help me… please?" he asked, his voice thick with pain.

After a few minutes Damien managed to help Dominique to stand, although his legs were shaking badly. He leaned against Damien heavily, which caused Damien to have to carry most of his weight. The slave tried to support him as best he could, but he struggled greatly and was soon panting tiredly from the effort. The painful expression on Damien's face showed Dominique that his own injuries didn't make this any easier. With his arm slung around Damien's shoulder, Dominique could feel his bones under his thin clothing, causing his doctor side to grow even more alarmed than he already was. The mouse was clearly in desperate need of nourishment, it was no wonder he was struggling. That's when Dominique thought back to earlier when Damien had brought him food and water. Damien hadn't glanced at Dominique to see if he was done eating; he had glanced at him because he was hungry. _How could I not have seen that?_ Dominique thought guiltily. And he had sat there eating it right in front of him. Even though he himself was hungry, it was clear that Damien needed it more than he did.

After some time of walking, they finally reached the long flight of stairs leading out of the dungeons. With both of their injuries, it felt like climbing a mountain. Dominique felt Damien stumble and they fell on the steps. Groaning, Dominique felt Damien was quickly desperate to get him back up. As he looked down to push himself up to help Damien some, he saw Damien had scraped his leg on the steps.

"P-please, Monsieur, we have to continue." Dominique looked up tiredly, but he could hear the desperation in Damien's voice and it was clear that he was using all his energy despite injuring himself further. Gathering up as much of his failing strength as he could, Dominique managed to get back up with Damien's help, and he put forth more effort as they went on. He didn't want Damien to be punished because of him.

After what seemed like hours later, they finally reached the top of the stairs. Every inch of his body hurt, and Dominique wanted nothing more than to just lay down and sleep. Damien continued to support him as best he could, but with both of them so weak they stumbled and fell often. Now that they were in the main part of the castle, Dominique started noticing the other servants around them. Not one of them gave them more than hopeless glances. Not one of them came over to help them, despite of them both being injured. When they rounded a corner Dominique's foot got caught in the carpet and the two of them fell again with a thud, making the other servants turn in their direction. Dominique let out a small groan of frustration, causing Damien to panic.

"I'm sorry, Monsieur, did I hurt you? P-please forgive me, Monsieur. I didn't mean to, Monsieur," Damien said nervously.

"N-No, it's not you," Dominique grunted as Damien helped him back to his feet again. He glared at the servants watching them but when he made eye contact they would look away. "It's them… w-why will no one help?"

"Why _would _they help, Monsieur?" Damien asked slightly confused. "They are servants and I am a slave, Monsieur." Dominique looked at him in surprise. He had never really thought about it, but just assumed that the terms "servant" and "slave" were interchangeable. How Damien said it showed that a slave would be beneath a servant. But how could that be, he wondered, if both were meant to serve the Master of the house? Then again, when he looked more closely he could see some physical differences between the two; the servants appeared to be better clothed and better fed for one thing…

"And Master gave me the order, Monsieur, so I must be the one to obey it," Damien continued, breaking Dominique out of his thoughts. "Master doesn't like for anyone to interfere, Monsieur."

Even with his little experience with Fane, Dominique couldn't say that he blamed them now. Everyone he met in this castle was just as terrified of Fane as he was.

Fane walked into the library and to his surprise it was empty. There was no sign of either Damien nor Dominique. The sun set gently outside his window, the light leaving and welcomed the night. The vampire groaned as he turned around, annoyed that his slave had not fulfilled his order, something that was unusual for Damien. As he turned to leave he saw Damien stop by the door with Dominique's arm over his shoulder. The slave had frozen in place the second he'd seen his Master in the library. Without a second thought he let Dominique fall to the floor and rushed over to Fane's feet, dropping down on all fours.

"_Îmi pare rău, Maestre! T-te rog să mă ierți!_" Dominique stared in shock as Damien actually kissed Fane's feet while begging and pleading forgiveness. _"V-vă rugăm să aveți milă, Maestre! Îmi pare rău, Maestre!"_

"_Lanț el pentru la birou birou_!" Fane yelled as he kicked Damien in his injured side, causing the slave to cry out. Dominique flinched at the action and trembled as he watched Damien scramble to his feet and rush over to him. Dominique winced as Damien picked him up as best he could and half dragged him over to the desk. Once Damien had gotten him into the chair Dominique collapsed with his head and arms limp on the desk, utterly exhausted. He felt something on his leg and looked down to see Damien replacing the chain back on his ankle. As if he could possibly go anywhere, Dominique thought tiredly. But then again he knew Fane wouldn't risk taking any chances, especially since he had tried to run once already.

Once he was satisfied that Dominique was secure, Fane grabbed Damien's neck and pulled him up, throwing him away from Dominique. Damien started begging in Romanian again but his pleas soon turned into screams as Fane began to beat him for not returning on time. It didn't matter if it had been seconds or hours, he had still disobeyed. And Dominique was forced to watch the whole thing, witnessing again just how brutal Fane was. Each cry and scream from Damien made Dominique's heart break. Was this what Damien went through everyday? Guilt flooded him as the beating dragged on and on. He should never have asked Damien to wait and let him rest. Those few precious seconds could have prevented this from happening.

Dominique let out a silent cry of relief when Fane finally stopped. Although the sight of Damien lying bloodied and unconscious on the floor only added to Dominique's growing fear of Fane. With the memory of his own torture so fresh in his mind, Dominique was scared out of his senses.

Dominique flinched when he felt Fane approach him from behind and moved to stand on the other side of the desk facing Dominique. "Now, let's try this again…"

"W-What do you want me to d-do?" Dominique asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Fane reached across the desk and pushed Azu Vithel toward him. "Translate this," he ordered. "I want every word copied down exactly as is, in an understandable language. Once that is done I will give you another order."

Dominique simply nodded, not daring to ask what Fane's motives were. He laid his head back down and closed his eyes briefly hoping to get just a minute of rest before he started. However he let out a startled gasp when Fane suddenly slammed his hand down on the desk.

"I thought I gave you an order, witch."

"I-I'm sorry," Dominique said shaking in fear.

"Then stop blubbering and get to work!"

With trembling hands Dominique opened the book to the first page and studied it for a moment before getting a piece of paper from the stack and a quill pen sitting on the desk to copy the words into English. However when he reached for the pen, he realized he could barely move his fingers. As pain shot through his injured wrist and hand Dominique realized that his right arm was pretty much useless at this point. And he was right handed…

"Is there a problem?" Fane asked irately, noticing his hesitation.

Dominique swallowed and shook his head wordlessly, too scared to even speak. Instead he reached for the pen with his left hand and dipped it into the ink. He tried to hold it just as he did with his right hand, but it just felt so awkward and unfamiliar. Knowing that Fane was getting more impatient by the second, Dominique put the pen to paper and began to slowly and cautiously write down what he saw on the page. It was hard enough trying to make the letters legible enough, but it didn't help his nerves while Fane watched him like a hawk, pacing behind his back.

The minutes ticked by slowly as Dominique worked. Once he was finished with the first page Fane suddenly snatched the paper away and studied it. "Is this a joke to you?" Fane asked dangerously, shoving the paper in Dominique's face. "How is it that a highly educated doctor has worse handwriting than a child?! Not to mention being careless enough to smudge the ink all over the paper!"

"I'm s-sorry," Dominique replied helplessly. "I-I'm right handed…"

"Then write with your right hand!"

"I can't! I can't even move it-"

"Are you trying my patience?! One more excuse out of you and I will personally drag you back down to the dungeons! Follow your orders!"

"Y-Yes, Count," Dominique answered obediently. Once again he reached for the quill, this time with his right hand. He had to use his left in order to make his fingers close around the pen, and as soon as he put any pressure to the paper pain flared through his arm. Gritting his teeth Dominique kept reminding himself that the pain from the tortures Fane would put him through were worse than his broken wrist. He had to recopy the first page, but thankfully this time it turned out much better than his first attempt. He waited anxiously as Fane looked it over, and let out a grateful sigh of relief when Fane nodded.

"Continue," Fane instructed, and Dominique obeyed. Despite the pain he managed to copy several pages to Fane's satisfaction, and in the back of his mind he wondered just how much Fane expected him to do tonight. However, he didn't dare stop, too terrified to even sleep.

After a few hours had passed Dominique noticed that Damien began to stir. Fane noticed as well and scolded him in Romanian before ordering him to leave. Still only half conscious Damien crawled on his hands and knees trying to drag himself out of Fane's presence as fast as he could. Dominique's ears flattened sadly, but he got right back to work so that Fane wouldn't become angry again.

The night dragged on and even though it was slow going Dominique completed translating several pages of the book. Fane sat in a comfortable chair by the fire drinking wine that one of the servants had brought him (or maybe it wasn't wine, Dominique thought with a shiver) and reading a book, although he kept a close eye on his captive and would check on his progress every now and then.

Before Dominique knew it, it was sunrise, and he rubbed his bloodshot eyes tiredly. Without even realizing it he began to make mistakes, accidentally switching words or writing the letters backwards. His back felt like it was on fire, his entire arm ached like a thousand needles punctured it, and his eyelids drooped more and more until no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't keep them open.

It wasn't until he heard a slight clattering sound that Fane looked up from his book. He frowned when he saw Dominique slumped over on the desk again, and when he walked over he saw that his hand had bumped the well of ink, spilling its contents all over the last few pages he had written. Fane grabbed a fistful of Dominique's long hair and jerked his head up, but Dominique showed no signs of response. After everything he had been through Dominique had just collapsed from pure exhaustion.

"Damned mortals," Fane growled in frustration, letting Dominique's head fall back down on the desk. With an irritated sigh he gathered up the stack of pages that Dominique had completed and took them with him to the chair to look over. He read the pages eagerly, studying each word and phrase carefully for any hidden meaning. However, the more he read the more Fane's eagerness turned into worry. So far it seemed to be nothing more than a than a recipe for spells, almost like a cookbook, with ingredients and instructions and diagrams provided. But nothing that dealt with life or death or the afterlife. Maybe he was looking in the wrong place. Maybe the answer lay somewhere else entirely…

Fane looked back at Dominique's unconscious form with a frown. No, Fane wouldn't be satisfied until he had studied the entire contents of Azu Vithel for himself. As much as he hated to admit it, right now that little witch was his best hope at ever having the chance to hold his beloved Adrianna in his arms again.

* * *

**Author's Notes: ****Yeah... not much to say here except I'M SO SORRY DAMIEN AND DOMINIQUE :C**

**Thank you again to mimmime and NightMagican for helping me write this ^^**

**Dominique and Fane (c)Me**  
**Lars (c)NightMagican**  
**Damien (c)mimmime**

**Translations (roughly):**  
**_Adu-mi prima biciul!= Get the first whip!_**

_**Curățați mizeria asta! Și l-bandaj corespunzător înainte de a il aduce la bibliotecă. Nu vreau ca el să sângereze peste tot. Vreau să-l gata înainte de apusul soarelui.= Clean up this mess! And bandage him properly before bringing him to the library. I do not want him to bleed everywhere. I want him ready before sunset.**_

_**Îmi pare rău, Maestre! T-te rog să mă ierți!... V-vă rugăm să aveți milă, Maestre! Îmi pare rău, Maestre!= I'm sorry, Master! T-please forgive me! ... Have mercy please, Master! I'm sorry, ****Master!**_

_**Lanț el pentru la birou birou!= Chain him to the office desk!**_


	3. Chapter 3

Dominique let out a soft groan as his eyes flickered open slowly when he awoke. At first he felt dazed and confused as to where he was while his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. His head pounded as he lifted it up off the desk and his muscles felt stiff from the uncomfortable position he had been sleeping in. Still feeling groggy he thought he must have fallen asleep studying at his desk again. But as he looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings that's when his memories began to catch up with him.

Dominique shivered as the events from the day before replayed over and over in his mind. He groaned softly as his back still burned with pain from the whipping he'd endured at the hands of the two vampires holding him captive. He was at least grateful for the bandages Fane's slave had applied to the wounds to staunch the bleeding but it did little to ease the pain. His head throbbed and his stomach ached from hunger and thirst, and combined with the broken bones in his wrist from Lars' grip when he tried to run made him want to go back to sleep just to get a little relief from the pain.

As he looked down on the desk Dominique saw that the inkwell had spilled, staining a lot of the papers he had written with huge blots of ink, and he realized with a sinking heart that he would have to recopy several hours worth of work all over again. He had lost so much valuable time by sleeping, and now he would have to waste more time redoing it.

That was another thing. Fane gave him an order and he had fallen asleep. Fane had already had him beaten once; what would he do when he saw that almost half the work was ruined? Chills ran through Dominique and he looked around frantically, but to his relief the Count was nowhere in sight. His slave Damien however was cleaning nearby dusting books on the shelves. They made eye contact briefly but Dominique's ears folded when Damien immediately looked away. But somehow Dominique felt better not being completely alone.

Still, the thought of Fane walking in the door at any moment lurked in Dominique's mind, so he turned back to the stack of papers and the ancient book on the desk and slowly resumed his work of deciphering the contents of Azu Vithel. As he copied the text into English he found more spells for healing sicknesses and diseases, even major injuries. Despite the situation he was in, with medicine being Dominique's field of study he couldn't help becoming a little fascinated by what he was reading. The information inside this book could drastically change Mousedom. How could something this beneficial to the world be lost and kept secret for all these centuries? That was why Dominique had decided to become a doctor in the first place, to help those in need. He began to wonder just how many more lives could he save if he were able to actually use this knowledge in his own practice?

Dominique looked over at Damien. The wound on his arm, still deep and untreated, made memories of his time in the torture chamber flood his mind. Though at least he had gotten his own wounds cleaned; Damien had not and Dominique could see a small infection starting to settle in the slave's arm. With a heavy sigh Dominique turned back to his work. As Damien had told him before he wouldn't get medical help unless his Master ordered it. And there was no way Dominique would get any of the supplies he needed to help Damien either.

The words in front of him started settling in Dominique's head. These were spells and even Fane thought he was a witch. Could he really do it? Could he manage a healing spell? No, what was he thinking! He couldn't do that! He didn't want to. With generations in his family going insane because of magic, why take the risk? But there was something deep inside his head that urged him to try. A small voice. He couldn't understand any words, but it made him feel he should try. The spell was right in front of him…

A clattering noise from the other side of the room broke Dominique out of his thoughts. When he looked over at the source of the sound he saw that Damien had dropped a stack of books and clutched his arm wincing in pain. A second later however he hastily dropped to his knees and began gathering the books up again. The little voice inside his head started urging Dominique again. The spell was right there. He could do this.

Finally making up his mind Dominique stood and walked over to Damien. The slave glanced up nervously as Dominique knelt down beside him. "Here, let me see," Dominique said calmly, slowly reaching his hand out. Damien flinched but didn't resist and just froze in place, letting Dominique do what he wanted. As he took Damien's arm gently Dominique noticed him trembling. "It's ok," Dominique reassured him. "I just want to help."

Damien glanced up briefly before looking down at the floor again. He tried to make himself stop trembling as Dominique examined his arm but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stop shaking. Dominique wasn't hurting him yet but Damien was so unused to a gentle touch that flinching was just his body's automatic response to touch. "Don't be afraid," Dominique said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you..."

Damien watched quietly and held very still as Dominique studied the wound. Without warning Dominique stumbled back to his chair, reading the spell again and again. If he was even going to try this he was making sure he knew the spell inside out. After studying the page for a few minutes until he had the spell memorized Dominique went back over to Damien and held his arm again. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to begin reciting the spell while his other hand hovered over the wound, but just as he was about to start that same fear gripped him causing him to hesitate. Again he recalled stories of witchcraft plaguing their family causing every third or fourth generation to become insane. His own mother had been proof of that. If he were to dabble in the dark arts now then what would prevent him from suffering the same fate?

While all these doubts flooded Dominique's mind that small voice seemed to echo in his thoughts again, reassuring him that it was ok and encouraging him to do it. What would it hurt to try? His intentions were for a good cause, not evil. He didn't care about power; he just wanted to help a fellow mouse. And besides, it was just one harmless spell. Despite what Fane said, it didn't make him a witch. It made him a doctor... with a slight advantage.

Feeling more determined now Dominique began to carefully recite the spell. Nothing happened right away and Dominique faltered a bit but kept going, focusing intently on what he was doing to ensure he didn't make any mistakes. A small energy seemed to flow through him as he sensed the little voice again. His fingertips were starting to tingle and for some reason Dominique felt more relaxed and he spoke the words with more confidence than when he first began. While he spoke the tingling sensation in his fingertips grew stronger, and soon the sinews of muscle and flesh of Damien's arm seemed to merge together as the wound slowly began to heal. A few moments later when Dominique finished he stared at Damien's arm. Just minutes ago the skin had been split open right down to the bone; and now not even a scar was left behind.

"It worked," Dominique breathed softly. A smile began to spread across his face and he even laughed in excitement. "It actually worked!" He beamed at Damien, who glanced back and forth from his arm to Dominique looking unsure of how to react. "Does it still hurt?" Dominique asked concernedly.

"No, Monsieur," Damien replied shaking his head.

"That's good," Dominique smiled relieved. He stared at his hands still half in shock. He had done that. He had healed someone just by speaking! Just thinking of how many lives could he save with this new skill made his head spin. That is, if he ever got out of this place.

That thought brought Dominique back to reality. As soon as Dominique had released Damien's arm the slave picked up the books he had dropped and resumed cleaning, so Dominique did the same and returned to his work at the desk. However after just a few minutes of staring at the worn pages of Azu Vithel the words seemed to blur and he rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. It was as if using the spell had just drained all of his energy. As time slowly dragged on the air felt heavier and heavier, and he grew restless sitting still in one place for so long.

Dominique took a deep breath and massaged his temples as his headache slowly became worse. He glanced up at Damien, who was still dusting the bookshelves. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Dominique said with a friendly smile attempting to break the silence and make conversation. "Would be nice to go outside and get some fresh air."

Damien's ears lowered when he heard Dominique speak but he didn't respond and kept cleaning without even pausing. Dominique watched for a moment thinking he must just be nervous, but a few minutes later he sighed and looked out the window again realizing that Damien wasn't going to talk to him. He leaned back in the chair and began to stretch his muscles, until he heard a small clinking sound that reminded him his leg was still shackled to the desk. He wouldn't be going anywhere like this...

Unless Damien could release him, he thought glancing back at the slave. After what Lars and Fane did to him Dominique knew better than to try to run away, but if he could convince Damien to unchain him just for a little while maybe they could go for a short stroll to relax. Maybe it would even help Damien to open up more if they weren't stuck inside this dark and dreary place.

"Um, Damien? Is there any way you could take this chain off? I just want to walk around and stretch my legs a little..." Dominique looked up and saw that Damien had stopped cleaning and was frozen in place, but he still didn't answer. "We could take a walk together?" Dominique suggested with a small smile. "A change of scenery would do us both some good I think..." Dominique trailed off when Damien still remained silent and folded his ears. What was he thinking, asking Fane's slave to go against his master's orders? He had tried to run once already, that's why he was chained in the first place. Fane would never allow them to leave, and when he found out they would both be punished. Dominique began to wonder if he would ever see the outside world again.

"Is anyone here ever allowed to go outside the castle?" Dominique asked witha sigh.

"Only if Master orders it, Monsieur," Damien answered carefully.

Of course, Dominique should have known that would be answer. "What, does he have wolves out there or something?" Dominique asked half jokingly with a nervous chuckle.

"No, Monsieur. Gerrit is a fox," Damien replied matter-of-factly.

The smile instantly faded from Dominique's face as he stared at Damien. "What?"

"Gerrit is a fox, Monsieur," Damien repeated. Dominique's eyes widened at the thought of a wild fox prowling around outside the castle. Chills ran down his spine as he thought about his failed escape attempt earlier. If Lars hadn't caught him, the fox would have. Dominique ran a shaky hand through his hair as he took a deep breath. Vampires, torture chambers, a mouse-eating fox… Dominique didn't even want to think about what other horrible things lurked around this castle. The more he discovered the more he wanted to get away from this place and its insane Count.

No sooner had the thought entered his mind than Fane himself walked through the door. "Ferka, _blană Gerrit are nevoie să fie periat_" Fane said to Damien, who immediately stopped what he was doing and left the room. As Fane turned his attention to him Dominique hastily went back to work, hoping with all his might that Fane hadn't overheard any of that conversation. Fane gave a satisfied smirk before following Damien out of the room and shutting the door behind him, leaving Dominique alone again.

With a heavy sigh, Dominique turned back to his work. There was no reason to do otherwise, but he still felt like his mind needed a break as his head slowly started pounding again by the sheer sight of the letters. Damien's words were still ringing in his ears, as well as Fane's. Since they had spoken in Romanian, the only word he had understood was "Gerrit," which is what Damien had called the fox, so he wondered what in the world Fane had told Damien to do.

As so many questions swirled in his head Dominique nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a yelping noise and voices outside. He walked around the desk as far as the chain would reach and leaned toward the window trying to see what was going on. From his position he had a view of part of the castle grounds near the forest. Surprised he watched as Fane and Lars were standing close to a huge grey fox with white and black markings on its tail and muzzle. That must be Gerrit, Dominique thought as he watched, but what was happening didn't make any sense. Lars didn't look happy at all as he visibly groaned and waved the fox away. Fane on the other hand was quite amused by this. What shocked him the most was that neither of them seemed concerned about the fox attacking them; but then again neither did the fox seem interested in chasing them. Dominique stared as Gerrit jumped around Fane playfully, although Fane was very careful not to let him get too close as his fur coat was dirty and tangled. Damien held a brush and was trying to get close enough to brush his fur but each time he came near Gerrit would growl low. Fane shook his head and said something to Gerrit in a firm tone, and finally Gerrit sat still wagging his tail.

Damien dragged a ladder over to Gerrit and climbed it so he could reach, all the while with Gerrit growling and glaring at him with his ears folded back low. With his hand shaking Damien carefully brushed the fur on his back, but after only a few strokes Gerrit snapped his teeth at Damien and snarled. Lars snickered as Fane scolded Gerrit while Damien tried again. Damien froze as Gerrit bared his teeth and growled, and Fane once again reprimanded the fox and urged Damien to continue. However as soon as Damien touched the brush to his fur Gerrit swatted at Damien with his paw, knocking the ladder out from under him and causing Damien to crash to the ground. Lying on his back Damien looked up in terror as Gerrit looked ready to pounce on him.

_Run, Damien, just run!_ Dominique screamed in his mind as he watched the scene unfolding. But Damien only laid there trembling and staring up at the fox. _Why won't you run?_ Dominique thought to himself as he watched in confusion. Even if it was almost impossible to try to outrun a fox, why would Damien just lay there and not even try to get away? To Dominique's horror Gerrit suddenly sprang and a moment later had Damien in his mouth, snarling as he shook his head violently. Fane yelled angrily as Gerrit continued to "play" with Damien, swatting him with his paws and tossing him around like a toy, while Lars laughed in amusement when Gerrit wouldn't listen to and obey Fane. Dominique felt sick as Gerrit bit and chewed on Damien, whose screams and cries filled the air, but no matter how much he wanted it he couldn't tear his eyes away.

After a few minutes Gerrit seemed to tire of his games and trotted over to Fane, dropped Damien at his feet, then sat down almost seeming to smile while wagging his tail happily. Lars' laughter filled the air as Fane glared at Gerrit and screamed at Lars to shut up, and then stepped over Damien and stormed off into the castle. Gerrit tilted his head curiously but with Fane gone soon lost interest and bounded back into the forest. As soon as the fox was gone some servants came out and carried Damien's unconscious body back inside.

Dominique stumbled away from the window, his heart pounding in fright at what he had just witnessed. That fox had ripped into Damien without a second thought, but yet listened to Fane and even seemed to adore him. How could he have such control over a wild animal? What if Fane decided to let Gerrit play with him next?

Hearing footsteps coming down the hallway Dominique quickly went back to the desk and grabbed the quill pen and paper to keep working, but the sound passed by and to his relief no one entered the room. Still, Dominique continued working where he had left off just in case Fane decided to pay a visit to check his progress. He tried his best to focus on the words in front of him and translating the book but Dominique couldn't get Damien out of his mind. He had been practically mauled by Gerrit's teeth and claws; Dominique couldn't imagine what agonizing pain he must be going through. If he was even still alive...

That chilling thought made Dominique freeze. Since he had been there Damien was really the only one he'd had contact with besides Fane and Lars. Even if they hadn't spoken much Damien had been comforting company to this impossible situation. If Damien died, then he truly would be alone.

Dominique took a shaky breath and continued writing, making very slow progress with his thoughts distracted by Damien and the horrors he had just witnessed. The hours dragged by and Dominique groaned and massaged his temples as his headache only became worse. His eyes became strained from reading and his broken wrist ached from writing so much for hours on end. He looked bleakly at the little stack of papers he had copied, his heart sinking as he saw how little he had actually managed to accomplish. What should have been a simple task was turning into a huge project, and at this rate it would take him weeks, maybe even months to finish.

While all these worries plagued his mind Dominique looked up at the sound of the door opening and was surprised to see Damien stumble into the room and resume cleaning as if nothing had happened. Dominique stared at the fresh wounds covering his body. After what he had just been through he shouldn't even be standing! Dominique watched in shock for a few minutes as Damien struggled and finally spoke up.

"Are you ok?" Damien glanced at him tiredly. "After what that fox did to you, you should be resting," he clarified looking at Damien with concern.

"Gerrit likes to play, Monsieur," Damien replied carefully. Dominique felt another chill run through him, horrified that this was just another regular occurrence for the slave. Dominique sighed as his eyes fell on Damien's wounds again and he stood up and walked over to him to treat the wounds. He couldn't just sit there and let Damien suffer.

As Dominique studied the cuts and bruises the thought entered his mind to try healing him with magic again. He hesitated as before but that same whispering voice he'd sensed before seemed to encourage him again. Damien was in obvious pain so how heartless would it be to just sit there when he had the means to help him?

Seeing that Damien was swaying slightly Dominique rushed over to Damien and caught him just as he was about to fall. Supporting Damien with one arm and holding his other hand over the wounds Dominique once again repeated the healing spell for each cut and bruise. Damien winced in pain at times but didn't pull away or protest, letting Dominique do what he wanted. Dominique became more confident as time went on and since he had the spell memorized by this point he could do the task much easier and faster now. However, with each wound healed Dominique felt drained of more and more energy, and after some time he slumped back against the wall suddenly exhausted. Damien glanced at him worried that he had done something wrong but Dominique smiled a little.

"I guess this magic thing has limits," Dominique said tiredly, looking down at his hands. He supposed it made sense though, if he used energy to create the spell then naturally it would drain his strength as if he'd done physical work. Still, it was an unfortunate setback that he'd have to be more careful about. He didn't want to think about what would happen if Fane noticed him slacking because his strength was gone.

As he rested against the wall Dominique looked around and noticed what Damien had been cleaning. His head still felt a bit dazed from all the reading, translating, and the magic he had done, so going back to Azu Vithel wasn't even an option at the moment as nothing would get done. But maybe doing a simple task as dusting the shelves was just the break he needed to let his mind rest. If he couldn't heal all the wounds he could at least help Damien by cleaning with him so Fane would be happy the job got done.

Damien paused and looked up confused when Dominique took one of the rags and began dusting the books on the shelves. Dominique felt Damien staring at him and smiled.

"It will get done faster if the two of us work together, right?" Dominique said cheerfully.

"Oui, Monsieur," Damien answered automatically, not questioning him. A few minutes passed as they cleaned and when Dominique finished cleaning one shelf and began to replace the books back Damien's ears lowered. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn't want to speak out of turn.

Dominique noticed him staring and looked concerned. "Something wrong?"

To answer Damien walked over and removed the last book Dominique had replaced and put it in another spot on the shelf. "M-Master likes his books in a certain order, Monsieur," Damien explained quietly. "I-I'm sorry, Monsieur."

"No it's ok," Dominique said softly, still smiling a little to show he wasn't angry. "Thank you for telling me. I'll just have to be more careful." Damien glanced at him for a moment before turning back to his spot to continue cleaning. Dominique sighed a little to himself. He had wanted to help but it seemed like he only made Damien more nervous. But he tried to remain optimistic. Maybe the more time they spent together the more Damien would warm up to him.

After cleaning the dust from the rest of the shelf, Dominique went to replace a few more books in their spot. He looked back and forth between each one trying to remember where he had gotten them but couldn't remember exactly what order they went in. "Um, Damien? Can you tell me where Les Misérables belongs on the shelf?" he asked sheepishly. Damien looked at him confused and just stared, nervously. "This one?" Dominique clarified, holding the book up so Damien could see the cover. Damien nodded quickly and pointed to the spot where the book belonged. Dominique looked at the book and back at Damien as a thought occurred to him. "Damien… can't you read?"

"N-No, Monsieur," Damien answered.

Dominique stared at him in shock and his ears folded sadly. He'd never met anyone, who couldn't read. Even children had at least a little knowledge of the alphabet. It only made him wonder more about Damien's past, why hadn't he ever learned how to read? Had no one taught him, even as a child? And knowing that he couldn't read made the fact that Damien had the contents of Fane's library mostly memorized an even greater feat in itself.

The minutes dragged on as they continued tidying up the library. Dominique was much more careful of keeping the books in the correct order, although he did have to ask for Damien's help a couple more times just to be sure. But the task helped his mind relax somewhat by doing less mental work and the little physical exercise was good for stretching his cramped muscles after sitting at that desk for so long. The chain around his ankle did limit his mobility but he was happy to do something other than translate for a while. In fact Dominique became so focused on what he was doing that he didn't even hear the door open behind him.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Dominique's heart nearly leapt into his throat at hearing Fane's growling voice. He slowly turned around and fidgeted with his hands nervously. "I… I-I was just-"

"You were just what?!" Fane snapped. "I gave you an order!"

"I-I just needed a little break," Dominique hastily tried to explain. "I thought I could be useful in some other way while my brain rested from all that translating…"

Fane just stared at Dominique as he kept rambling nervously trying to make up excuses. The vampire had had it with this witch. All he did was make excuses and slipping his work. Was it so hard to understand and follow a simple order as this. Translate the book. That was all Fane had ordered him to do. Nothing more, and yet that seemed to be the most difficult task this witch has ever had! How on earth had this mouse become a medical student? Not to mention one of the best in his class. It was far beyond what Fane could think, but then the Count noticed how his slave glanced at Dominique. Had Dominique been talking with Damien? A slight movement from Damien was all Fane needed to know as his red eyes fell back on the rambling witch with a smirk.

Dominique's eyes lowered when he saw Fane's expression and he slowly backed up towards the desk again. "B-But I'm sorry, Count. I'll get back to work-"

"No."

Dominique flinched at the sound of Fane's voice cutting him off short and stopped dead in his tracks. "N-No?"

"No," Fane repeated. Dominique watched confused as Fane reached inside his vest pocket and removed a key and held it out toward Damien. The slave instantly took the key, dropping to his knees at Dominique's feet and removing the chain around his ankle. Dominique blinked as it all happened within a matter of seconds and not a word had been spoken. Damien was so used to being Fane's slave that he even knew his master's unspoken commands. Each time they interacted together Dominique gained just a glimpse of their relationship, and it only raised more questions.

"Come with me," Fane ordered, snapping Dominique out of his thoughts. "I have another task for you."

"Yes Count," Dominique answered quietly, feeling very nervous and confused. Fane had been so insistent about him translating Azu Vithel, so why would he want him to stop now? But Dominique wouldn't dare question Fane's motives so he just followed silently. As they reached the door Fane snapped his fingers and Dominique turned as he heard Damien rushing after them. As they walked through the halls Dominique glanced back and forth between the two wondering more and more about their history together. It was obvious that Fane practically had Damien wrapped around his finger and that the slave would do anything for his Master, even if it caused Damien to hurt himself in the process. Exactly how long had Damien been a slave?

All these thoughts were pushed aside when Dominique began to recognize surroundings as they walked and realized with a sinking heart that they were headed back down to the dungeons. As they passed each dark cell Dominique hoped with all his might that they weren't going back to that awful place but sure enough soon Fane was pushing him inside the room where he had been tortured before.

Dominique's mind raced as he stood in the middle of the room. What was Fane going to do to him this time? He couldn't help trembling but tried to look as brave as he could, although he knew he was failing as Fane chuckled at him. The Count said something but as he spoke it in Romanian Dominique didn't understand, nor did he really care. The only thing on his mind was all the torture devices hanging around and the awful stench he remembered too well. He nearly didn't notice that Damien knelt down before him as he was close to hyperventilating out of pure horror. However, Dominique was pulled out of his thoughts when Fane harshly shoved the whip Lars had used before into his hands.

"Punish him." The vampire's voice was calm as ice as Dominique looked down at the whip in his hands. What had just happened? With a few deep breaths he finally managed to glance over at the Count.

"What...?"

"Punish him. The slave has been disobedient and you shall punish him."

Dominique stared at Fane in disbelief. "W-What?! Why me?!"

"You wanted to help; now punish the slave for his disobedience."

"N-No… No, I-I can't do this-!"

Fane grabbed Dominique's collar and yanked him closer. "You will whip him bloody or I will whip you until you can no longer walk. Is that clear?!" With a slight push the Count let go of Dominique, who nearly lost his balance at the force. Dominique gripped the whip tightly in his hands and gazed down at the trembling mouse in front of him. He had to do this. The pain in his back was searing through his wounds and in the back of his head Dominique could hear the crack of the whip. As much as he didn't want to hurt Damien, Dominique was scared. Petrified even. He knew the Count wouldn't hesitate to make good on his threat and Dominique had already been on the receiving side of the whip before. Neither his body or his mind could go through another round. As wrong as it felt, it was him or Damien. Flashbacks of the pain and horror Dominique felt stormed his mind. He had to do it. He couldn't go through it again. With almost a haze in his eyes, Dominique gripped the whip tighter and got ready to hit. His mind fogged and his hand seemed to have a life of its own as he lifted his arm and struck down at Damien's back. With the first blow Dominique didn't even touch Damien and the whip didn't give the slightest crack. Pure dread filled Dominique. When he finally had managed to make himself do the deed, nothing had come out of it.

"You do realize I am an impatient mouse?" Fane hissed and Dominique flinched at the tone. With trembling hands Dominique lifted the whip once more, ready to strike again. He had to hit Damien this time; Fane would not stand for another miss. Using all his strength, Dominique brought the whip down. In the momentum he had closed his eyes, but they shot open when he heard Damien let out a small cry and a sob. There was no blood, but he knew the whip had struck him. Dominique began breathing raggedly as he was frozen in place, listening to Damien's whimpering. How could he do this to a fellow mouse? He knew the pain all too well. But that was what made Dominique go through with this in the first place. That unbearable pain of the whip against his back was so clear in his mind and it scared him more than anything. Dominique never wanted to feel that pain again, so he brought the whip over his head a third time and again he used all his might to strike Damien.

Hearing Damien sob after each blow broke Dominique's heart. Fane had ordered him to whip the slave bloody, and although Dominique had tried, even now after several hits there wasn't a scratch on Damien, only a few bruises and red marks. As he heard the Count sigh, Dominique felt chills run down his spine. "I-I'm trying…" he whispered fearfully.

"That I have seen," Fane remarked unimpressed as he grabbed the whip from Dominique's hands. A world of terror stormed Dominique as he was sure Fane would whip him now for not being able to make Damien bleed. "You need more force in the last part of your hit, rather than the first." Fane cracked the whip down on Damien's back with ease, leaving a long gash from the shoulder to the hem of his pants. Damien arched his back and cried out in pain much louder than before and trembled on the floor. Dominique stared horrified as blood slowly seeped out of the fresh wound, and Fane casually put the whip back in Dominique's hand as if this were an everyday occurrence. With deep breaths Dominique tightened his grip around the handle of the whip as he made himself strike Damien again. This time he used the technique Fane had told him, and although it was still not as strong as Fane's it was enough to cause Damien to scream again as more blood flowed from the new cut.

After giving few more strikes Dominique froze suddenly as his own words echoed in his brain. _"Don't be afraid... I'm not going to hurt you..."_ He had said he would never harm Damien yet here he was breaking that very promise. Dominique began to breathe harder as he stared at the red blood running down Damien's back and staining his fur and shirt. That same blood coating the whip in his hands and dripping onto the floor at his feet…

Feeling overwhelmed by guilt Dominique dropped the whip and fell to his hands and knees. He hung his head feeling tears sting his eyes and fall to the floor as he squeezed his eyes shut, unable to even look at Damien anymore and see the damage he had done. "P-Please," he begged Fane quietly, "don't make me do this. He didn't do anything to deserve this."

Fane rolled his eyes as he watched Dominique break down. "I don't understand why it is so difficult for you to obey the simplest orders," Fane said with an irritated sigh. "This really disappoints me. If you had done as I said and translated the book as instructed instead of making up excuses then none of this would have happened. And now since you continue disobeying me, you are only causing more pain to both yourself and others. Can't you see what you have done?" Dominique looked up as Fane gestured at Damien cringing on the floor and felt his heart breaking. This was all his fault. It was _his_ fault Damien was suffering. Damien was in pain. By his hand. _He_ had caused this.

Dominique flinched in fear as Fane picked up the whip, thinking that now he would be whipped as well. As Fane raised the whip he trembled more and braced himself, but instead of feeling the painful lash break his skin as he had felt before at the harsh crack of the whip, Dominique heard a horrifying shriek from his side. His eyes snapped open as he realized the blow had fell on Damien. He flinched again as Fane brought the whip down hard across Damien's back, making the slave almost jump at the force. "W-Wait, please s-stop!" Dominique cried out, but his pleas were drowned out by the crack of the whip and Damien's screams.

Fane's eyes were cold and hard and his tone grew more firm as he emphasized each word with another strike. "This is what happens when you disobey, witch. Take a good look at what you have caused." Dominique flinched at each strike that landed on Damien and finally couldn't watch anymore. With tears still flowing he held his head in his hands as Damien's screams rang in his ears.

After what seemed like hours Fane threw the whip at Damien once he was done. _"Nettoyer,"_ Fane snapped before grabbing Dominique by the arm and jerking him off the floor and half dragging him out the door. He had given the order in French so Dominique understood that he had told Damien to clean up. As he was dragged out Dominique looked over his shoulder and saw even in such a weakened condition Damien slowly and painfully pull himself up on his elbows trying to get up to follow Fane's order. In the back of his mind Dominique wondered why Fane had given the order in French as opposed to Romanian as he normally spoke to Damien. He must've wanted me to understand. It was the only reason Dominique could think of. Fane wanted him to see that if his slave was expected to still follow orders even after such a severe beating then Dominique had no excuse not to obey Fane's orders as well. His thoughts were confirmed when Fane dragged him back to the study and pretty much shoved him towards the desk. Fane didn't have to tell him what he wanted, Dominique knew he was expected to continue translating Azu Vithul no matter what had just happened. So Dominique painfully picked himself up and sat back down at the desk. Fane gave a satisfied smirk as he watched the young mouse nervously pick up the quill pen and resume translating where he had left off. It had taken a while but it looked like the witch was finally learning his place. After watching for a moment Fane left the room to attend to other things.

With Fane gone Dominique could breathe a little easier but he still trembled from what he had just witnessed, and as he worked he tried desperately to get Damien out of his mind. What he had done to that poor mouse was about as unbearable as the pain itself. Now Dominique almost wished it had been him that was whipped instead of Damien. Shaking his head once again, Dominique tried to concentrate on the work ahead of him. The words on the pages became blurry. The meaning of the language disappeared in front of his eyes. With a low frustrating growl Dominique put the quill back in its place and slammed his fists onto the desk. Pain shot through his wrist, but for once Dominique embraced the pain. He deserved it after what had done. Damien would never trust him again, and why should he? The guilt was eating away at Dominique and he felt like breaking down once again. New tears were threatening to fall, but he quickly wiped them away and turned back to his work when he heard the doors open.

Glancing over his shoulder nervously Dominique expected to see Fane walking in to check on his progress, but instead his eyes fell on Damien. The quill pen slipped from Dominique's hand as he straightened up, still staring at Damien in disbelief. The slave looked beyond dazed as he tiredly stumbled his way towards Dominique. His eyes were drooping, he was panting heavily and Dominique could see he winced in pain with every other step. How was he even still standing after the torture he'd been through? It wasn't until the tray made contact with the desk that Dominique noticed the food Damien had brought in. At the sight of food Dominique realized just how hungry he was as Fane never fed him much more than the very minimum a day, which always kept him hungry. But Dominique pushed his hunger away as his gaze fell on Damien once again. The slave slid down to his knees and leaned with his shoulder against the desk to avoid getting any blood from his back on the furniture, ready to pass out any second due to the pain he was in. Dominique reached out a hand as if to help him, but froze when the movement caused Damien to flinch away from him. More guilt flooded Dominique as he realized that Damien was actually scared of him. But, with all the pain he had caused him, why wouldn't he be?

"D-Damien…" Dominique started, wanting to apologize, but seeing that Damien didn't even react to his own name it seemed like a waste of time. With a sad sigh Dominique turned back to his food. Damien wasn't able to concentrate enough to hear him and Dominique knew if Fane would walk in it would be much worse if he did nothing but stare. Reluctantly Dominique took a bite of his food. It didn't taste any good, despite the fact that he was starving. He had to force himself to swallow the dry bread. His appetite had just disappeared in thin air. The food he cherished the other day was nothing more than an obligation he had to fulfill now. Staring at the bread he debated giving it to Damien, but then again, look what had happened the last time Dominique tried to help.

After a few long minutes of silence Damien let out a soft groan. Dominique looked again and saw Damien wincing in pain as he slowly pulled off his shirt and began to try to mend the tears in the cloth. Dominique watched horrified when Damien swayed as he threaded the needle through the cloth, and sometimes when he tried to pull the needle through to make the stitch Damien would miss or even drop the needle and thread altogether. His fingers were trembling so badly that he kept poking his fingertips with the needle, which only drew more blood. However, the sight of how Damien struggled wasn't close to as horrifying as Damien's body itself. Dominique could literally count his ribs and the bones in his spine as they stuck out. He might as well have been looking at a skeleton, like they had in his classroom at the university, which only emphasized the severeness of Damien's wounds. Dominique became more alarmed when he could already see inflamed flesh around the cuts showing that they were becoming infected. That did it for him. Even if Damien was scared of him Dominique knew he had to get those cuts treated or Damien would only be in worse pain later on, not to mention the infection could possibly kill him.

Just as Dominique was about to get out of the chair to help Damien, the door opened and Fane entered the room. Damien immediately pulled the shirt, painfully, back on and pulled himself up. He grabbed the tray on the table and started walking, although after taking only a few steps the pain and exhaustion took over and Damien collapsed to the floor. Fane rolled his eyes irritably but looked surprised when Dominique stood up from his chair.

"Let me treat his wounds… please," Dominique asked quietly.

Fane couldn't resist smirking at Dominique. "You think that will ease your guilt? That it will make up for the pain you put him through?"

Dominique's ears lowered at that and he felt more tears threaten to spill. "Please, just let me do it," he begged. "He won't be any good to you like this… And it will only get worse."

Looking down at his slave Fane groaned as he realized Dominique actually had a point. "Fine. But make it quick," he snapped.

As soon as the words left his mouth Dominique rushed to Damien's side. He carefully lifted the shirt in order to get better access to the wounds. "I need a clean cloth and some water," Dominique stated as his instincts took over. "And bandages…" He froze when he realized what he'd said and nervously looked up into Fane's angry blood red eyes. "Please," he added fearfully. Fane glared for a moment more before storming to the door. Dominique heard him barking orders to some servants out in the hallway, and a few minutes later they came back with the items he had asked for. Dominique dipped the cloth into the water and gently began to clean the cuts. "What kind of medicine do you have here?" he asked Fane. "An antibiotic would get rid of the infection, and if you have some kind of ointment it would sooth the pain."

The vampire scowled but he rapped out more orders for the servants to go and fetch the things. Fane crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently as he watched Dominique work on Damien, hating the fact that he was using his resources on his slave of all things.

Fane watched closely as he noticed Dominique appeared to be deep in thought. His lips were moving as he silently recited something while his hand hovered just above one of the cuts on Damien's back. What was he doing? At first nothing happened, but then Fane became astonished when the gash seemed to slowly close up before finally disappearing altogether. Dominique felt Fane's eyes on him and lowered his ears. "It's a spell I learned from Azu Vithel," he explained quietly. "I tried it once before, but it was only for one wound. Casting a spell requires energy, and I don't think I have the strength or power to heal all of this; at least not all at once..."

_He had tried this before?_ Fane thought to himself. Well that explained Damien's reactions to Dominique earlier before he was whipped. The witch must have healed him once already and was trying to bond with the slave, which also explained why Dominique had been so upset over being forced to whip him. Fane was a little annoyed that Dominique had kept the little secret of practicing magic hidden from him, but at least this was solid confirmation that Dominique was in fact a real witch.

"I'm sure it will become easier with more experience," Fane remarked. "In fact, use him as practice…" After waving his servants away Fane suddenly kicked Damien closer to Dominique. "After all, he can easily be wounded again," Fane smirked. "Both of us can make that happen."

...

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

**This was a hard chapter to write. Especially the whipping scene D:**  
**But thankfully Anne has been extremely helpful (that doesn't even begin to describe it) with helping me write this. Damien is hers so I've been consulting with her a LOT with this fic but she's pretty much co-author now ^^ 3**

**I think there will be one final chapter to this story. Then will come "Echoes of the Past" 8D**

**Damien Ferka Sorena (c)mimmime **  
**Gerrit the fox and Lars Maurus (c)NightMagican**  
**Dominique Flagrantia and Fane cel Rau (c)Me**


	4. Chapter 4

**NOTE: This chapter was posted a couple months ago on deviantart but I totally forgot to post it here. So sorry about that ^^;**

Fane stood at a little distance watching quietly from the doorway with his arms crossed as he waited for Dominique to finish healing Damien's wounds. The only reason he was allowing Dominique to heal his slave at all was so that Fane could witness the boy actually using his powers himself. Dominique could feel the Count's eyes on him watching his every move, which only made him more nervous and made it more difficult for him to concentrate on the healing spell causing him to falter here and there; but as time went on and he gained more experience, the easier it became and the faster the wounds healed.

Fane smiled to himself. He had almost given up on the little witch having any connection to magic at all; but now here was positive proof right before his eyes. It meant that he was one step closer in finding a way to bring his beloved back from beyond the grave. If anyone could do it, it had to be a witch. If not... No, this had to work. He had searched for so long and failed too many times; he refused to do so again.

"Never thought I'd see the great Count taking orders from a whelp like him."

Fane groaned inwardly as his thoughts were interrupted by the smug voice of the Danish vampire who appeared behind him. "I am the master here, I give the orders," Fane snapped.

"Clearly," Lars chuckled, causing the Count to roll his eyes.

"What do you want, Maurus?"

"Just came to see how our little witch is progressing," Lars said moving to stand beside Fane and leaning against the doorframe casually. "Looks like he's coming along just fine, especially now that he's acting on his own."

Fane frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Open your eyes, little Stefan," Lars said putting one hand on Fane's shoulder and gesturing at Dominique with the other. "He's getting more bold. He admitted to healing your slave once already without your knowledge, so he's obviously practicing magic without supervision. The more he practices, the stronger he'll become; and the stronger he becomes, the more of a threat he will be. Witches have always been natural enemies of vampires-"

"I am well aware of that," Fane nearly growled as he jerked his shoulder away from Lars, although he couldn't help feeling a cold chill run down his spine as memories of a previous encounter with a witch flashed in his mind. He stared at Dominique, who glanced up nervously as he felt Fane watching him and then instantly lowered his eyes again. He couldn't even hold eye contact with Fane. The boy was terrified of him, that much was clear. But Fane had underestimated a witch before; if given time who was to say that Dominique might gain the courage to challenge him as well? "He wouldn't dare," Fane muttered partially to himself.

"What's to stop him?" Lars prodded.

"He knows the punishment for disobeying me-"

"And yet here he is practicing magic behind your back when he claims he has no knowledge of such things," Lars pointed out. "And now he has talked you into letting him heal a worthless slave." He chuckled and shook his head. "You really are obsessed with this immortality thing to allow that to happen."

"As you are obsessed with destroying an entire bloodline," Fane retorted back. "Speaking of which, don't you have anything better to do with your spare time, such as killing a Lehmann or two? Rather than annoy me," he added under his breath.

"Aw, but you make it so much fun," Lars teased. "But, you do have a point. As much as I would love to stick around and watch you dabble with magic, I have my own curse to work on." Fane watched as the Danish vampire turned to leave. "Good luck with the whelp," Lars added with a chuckle over his shoulder.

Fane scoffed as Lars left. However, as much as Fane hated to admit it, the Dane had a point in all that he said. On the one hand, he wanted Dominique to practice magic so that he could be strong enough to bring Adrianna back from the dead with whatever means necessary. But on the other hand, the more Dominique practised, the stronger he would become; and the stronger he became, the greater the chance that he might rebel. After the beating he had received from being whipped once already, Fane seriously doubted that Dominique would attempt such a thing anytime soon; but one couldn't be too careful. If the boy did dare to step out line then he would simply be beaten back into submission, simple as that.

After several minutes Fane left his place by the door and stood behind Dominique looking over his shoulder, observing the process of the wound healing up close. "My, how proficient you've become in so little time."

Dominique flinched at the sound of Fane's voice behind him. "I-It's only a simple healing spell," he replied cautiously.

"Well, now you can move on to more important things," Fane smiled.

Thinking that meant Fane wanted him to continue translating Azu Vithel, Dominique hastily rose to his feet. "I-I'm sorry, Count," he apologized nervously. "I'll get right back to work."

Fane's smirk widened as Dominique took the hint. "But first," he added, "I have a question for you."

"Y-Yes, Count?"

"Is it possible to recreate a curse on one person and place it on another?"

Dominique's ears folded. By this point he was extremely nervous and a little confused at such a strange question out of the blue. "I don't know," he answered truthfully, though he was fearful of what would happen to him if Fane was not pleased with his answer. "There is probably a way but I don't know how."

"You should find out then," Fane commented.

Dominique looked up surprised. "H-How-?" He trailed off when Fane stared at him with a look of annoyance.

"You're holding an ancient spell book in your hands and yet you ask how? Surely there must be such information somewhere inside."

"What if there's not?" Dominique asked quietly. Fane gestured to their surroundings in response.

"Look around you. What do you see?" Dominique averted his eyes briefly as Fane smirked in amusement. "I did not collect one of the world's biggest libraries just for show." Dominique looked back up and froze when he saw Fane's smile had faded, all traces of humor gone from his expression as he slowly circled Dominique's chair. "From now on you are to divide your time between translating Azu Vithel and researching the removal of and copying of spells. Along with anything dealing with resurrection from the dead. There is no shortage of resources available to you so make good use of it. Report any of your findings to me immediately, no matter how small or insignificant you think they may be. Understood?"

"Yes, Count," Dominique nodded obediently. Apparently satisfied Fane finally left the room, leaving Dominique alone with Damien still lying nearby unconscious. Dominique looked over at him worriedly but was a bit hesitant to continue trying to help him as Fane had given him new orders. His words replayed in Dominique's mind as he looked around. Ever since he had arrived all Dominique had really done was translate Azu Vithel, so with his head being stuck in a book he had never really noticed just how big the library was. Not only was the room itself huge, but the rows upon rows of shelves filling the room and lining the walls seemed to stretch on and on. Feeling his head swim Dominique took deep breaths and forced himself to turn around to the desk. He had to stay focused on one problem at a time to keep from becoming overwhelmed. He would deal with searching the library later. For now he would continue to translate, since that was the first thing Fane told him to do.

After some time of working Dominique looked up when he heard a groan come from Damien. He felt guilt storm through him as he watched the slave struggle to pull himself up off the floor and gradually stumbled to his feet. Even though he had healed some of the more serious wounds, it was clear that Damien was still in a lot of pain. Despite Fane's orders Dominique knew he couldn't sit by while another was in need of help. "Are you alright, Damien?" he asked concerned.

Hearing his name Damien flinched slightly and glanced up. "Oui, Monsieur," he replied. Dominique watched sadly for a moment as Damien simply continued cleaning as if nothing had happened. What kind of stupid question was that, it was obvious that Damien was not alright and that his automatic response would be "yes." Letting out a small sigh Dominique turned back to the book and slowly continued working as Damien resumed his duties.

Time passed until Dominique felt his eyes were growing tired. Thinking he needed a break to also stretch his legs he rubbed his eyes and slowly looked around. So far he hadn't discovered anything that Fane had alluded to in Azu Vithel, so he might as well start exploring this library. Remembering what Damien had said earlier about Fane keeping his books in a certain order, Dominique assumed that Fane would also have them organized into specific sections to keep track of everything, so he only had to figure out where Fane kept any books dealing with magic. Only the more Dominique looked around, the more he discovered what a difficult task this was going to be. He walked through row after row with books, and for every aisle he passed several new ones would appear. Soon he came upon a staircase that he discovered led to a second level filled with even more shelves full of books. Fane really hadn't exaggerated when he said he had one of the biggest libraries in the world.

Pausing by one of the bookcases Dominique chose a random book and pulled it from the shelf. Flipping through the pages he found it to be written in a language he didn't understand so he put it back in it's place. He repeated the action several times, and with each piece he found the more his mind reeled at the wealth of the Count. Among his collection were the first books ever printed, original documents of the greatest screenplays and stories, first editions of classics in their original languages; even ancient historic scrolls from Japan and the great Pharaohs of Egypt that pre-dated centuries before the first printing press.

In better circumstances all of this would have been much more impressive to Dominique; but at this moment the only thing he was concerned about finding was any book about magic. However, the more he wandered through the endless rows of bookshelves the more lost he became. Just the sheer size of the library made him feel so small. How was he ever going to find anything in here? He didn't even know where to begin looking. His breathing became heavier and his chest pounded as the weight of such a daunting task nearly overwhelmed him. What would Fane do to him if he couldn't find the answers he was searching for? Would he be thrown in the torture chamber in the dungeon again? Damien had been whipped for less, why wouldn't the same happen to him?

After what seemed like hours of wandering Dominique finally found his way back to the desk where he had been working. He hadn't even noticed that Damien had left until he saw the slave re-enter the room carrying a tray of food for Dominique.

"Damien," Dominique breathed out and rushed over to the slave, who had only taken one step into the room. "Please, help me!" Dominique begged, an edge of panic showing in his voice. "The Count wants me to find something and I have no idea where anything is in this place, and he's going to be back any minute, and… and… y-you have to help me!"

Damien jumped at the sudden outburst and nearly dropped the tray of food, but he managed to keep it from spilling and quickly set it down on the desk. "O-Oui, Monsieur," he answered obediently, although he was trembling nervously.

Dominique let out a shaky sigh of relief and Damien followed him as they walked through the aisles of books. "I need to know where the Count keeps his books about magic," Dominique said trying to explain what he was looking for. Damien glanced at him worriedly and his ears folded. "You know, like a spellbook? Anything that even mentions witchcraft or spells…" He trailed off when Damien didn't respond right away. "You do know where all the books are, don't you?" He asked confused, recalling how Damien placed the books away earlier.

"Oui, M-Monsieur… but I do not know their names or what they are about Monsieur," Damien replied scared. "Please forgive me, Monsieur…"

"But...But you have to know!" Dominique exclaimed, feeling panic begin to build in his chest again. "You know this place as well as Fane himself, surely you must know where they are!"

In an instant Damien fell at Dominique's feet and bowed himself to the floor trembling in fright. "I-I'm sorry, Monsieur…please, Monsieur, p-please forgive me."

Seeing Damien bowed down at his feet brought Dominique somewhat back to his senses. Guilt flooded through him as he realized that once again he had frightened the poor mouse to the point of begging for mercy. When would he ever learn?

Watching how frightened Damien was Dominique slowly knelt down in front of him. He had forgotten that Damien didn't know how to read so of course he wouldn't know the contents inside the books; and that little oversight had caused him to scare Damien unnecessarily. He had been so worried about what Fane would do to him that he had given no thought to how he was reacting around Damien, and he had to suffer enough without Dominique adding to that.

"It's alright, Damien," Dominique finally replied quietly trying not to frighten the mouse any further. "And I'm sorry. For everything," he added guiltily. Damien looked up briefly in a little confusion as he wasn't used to being apologized to. Why would anyone apologize to him, a lowly slave? "For the beating," Dominique continued. "For this… I should have asked for help instead of bursting out like that." His eyes met Damien's briefly as the slave glanced up at him. "So… Will you help me? Please?"

"Oui, Monsieur," Damien responded automatically. He was still a little confused about being apologized to but wouldn't dare question it. So for the next few hours the two mice continued the daunting search through the library. Damien followed Dominique very closely, making sure to return each book in its rightful place when Dominique was done with it, even having to move some that Dominique had placed in the wrong spot.

With each incorrect book that Dominique pulled from the shelf the more discouraged he became. At this rate it would take several days, if not weeks, just to find the correct section. Perhaps when Fane returned he could ask where he kept those particular books. Although the thought of Fane returning sent shivers down his spine and he feared how the Count might react to his failure.

Feeling himself begin to give up hope Dominique pulled one last book from a random shelf and quickly glanced through the dusty pages until suddenly a word caught his attention.

"Witches," Dominique whispered to himself. As his eyes quickly scanned the pages he found that the passage in question spoke about witch trials, but that was enough for him. It had witches in it so surely there must be something of use. It wouldn't hurt to check.

After handing the book to Damien to hold Dominique kept looking near the spot where he found the book. Luckily he found several others similar to that one, all containing information about witches. When he was done he and Damien both had an armful of books which they carried back to the desk where Dominique had been working on Azu Vithel. He sat down in the chair tiredly, glad to at least have made some little progress. So as Damien left to go prepare dinner, Dominique settled in and began the task of reading each of the books.

Unfortunately however, it seemed he wasn't so lucky as he had thought. The books were indeed about witches, but they only recounted the trials and history of witches. There was nothing pertaining specifically to witchcraft or the dark arts. They were only history books.

Dominique easily lost track of time as he read and jumped startled when Fane suddenly entered the room. His ears folded and he couldn't help trembling slightly as Fane approached him. However it seemed that the Count had no interest in him as he wordlessly gathered up the papers that Dominique had translated and took a seat in an armchair by the fireplace and began reading. Dominique continued reading but he watched Fane nervously out of the corner of his eye. Some time later Fane finally stood and walked over to the desk.

"Catching up on your ancestors history I see," Fane remarked. Dominique gulped as he felt Fane looking over his shoulder observing what he was doing.

"Yes, Count," he replied quietly.

"And what, pray tell, do you hope to accomplish with that?"

Dominique's heart pounded in fear as he heard the annoyance in Fane's voice. "I-It was all I could find," Dominique stammered. He gulped when Fane continued to glare at him. He hesitated to ask but it was now or never. "Could you please show me where your books about magic are?"

Fane sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he was getting a headache from the boy's stupidity. "Must I do everything myself?" he remarked partially to himself.

Dominique heard the comment and folded his ears. "I'm sorry, C-Count-"

"Shut up and follow me," Fane replied. Dominique hastily obeyed and followed Fane to the second floor, stopping by a row of bookshelves against the wall. "This entire wall is filled with books containing information about magic and spells written in several languages." Fane turned and gestured at the adjoining wall. "If none of those help, then this wall contains books that I simply don't know what they are because they are written in an unknown or dead language."

Dominique stared at the shelves of books and back at Fane. "How can I read them if they're in another language?"

"You can read Azu Vithel."

"That's different… I have a personal connection to it because my ancestors wrote it. That doesn't mean I can translate every language."

Fane frowned. This boy was testing every ounce of his patience. "If you can heal wounds then I'm sure you can find a spell to aid you in translation. If not, the dictionaries and encyclopedias are down there." Before Dominique could even reply Fane simply walked away, leaving the younger mouse to figure it out for himself.

And so Dominique spent the next several days trying to do just that. As Fane instructed he used the time in between sessions of translating Azu Vithel to research the material inside Fane's books about magic. Despite the dangerous situation he was in, a part of Dominique (perhaps the witch inside of him, he thought grimly) slowly grew more curious and interested in the things he found. With the sense of urgency to find the information Fane wanted Dominique hastily browsed through the pages as quickly as he could, but even so he was slowly gleaning small bits of knowledge of the spells and rituals contained inside. They weren't as complex as the information inside Azu Vithel, merely the simplest spells of healing wounds and controlling the elements, such as fire and water; along with spells to ward off evil spirits and temporary protection from supernatural creatures. There were also warnings against creatures such as werewolves and vampires, and passages detailing how to deal with their kind. Such information would of course be of immense value to Dominique, but the fact that Fane always showed up at the worst of times made Dominique afraid to dwell on it for long as he didn't want to be caught.

The only time Dominique saw Damien was when he brought food to him daily and whenever he came to clean the library. Thankfully he didn't see Lars anymore, and he hoped the Danish vampire had found something better to do and would leave him alone for the time being.

Fane also continued to check on Dominique's progress at the end of every day, sitting in his chair by the fireplace and reading the pages the boy had translated. It was slow going in Fane's opinion, but if there was anything he had learned over the centuries it was patience. That still didn't deter him from scowling disapprovingly or reprimanding Dominique if he thought he was slacking, and as the days wore on even Fane felt himself slowly growing mad with anticipation. His dark mood grew worse and worse, and as always his wrath often fell on his slave Damien. Dominique cringed each time he witnessed Fane lash out at his slave, but there was nothing he could do to stop it and he didn't dare speak out of turn. He understood now why on that first day that none of the other servants had helped him and Damien and why they wouldn't interfere. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of the Count's wrath.

As time dragged on Dominique tried to force himself to work faster as he could sense Fane's growing irritation. He was afraid of rushing too fast as he didn't want to make any mistakes, but still the sense of urgency hung over him. Some days Fane's attitude was better than others, but on this day it was particularly worse. Damien had already been beaten twice and it wasn't even noon yet. The storm clouds outside reflected Fane's foul mood, and he frowned at the pages in his hand as he sat in his chair by the fire re-reading the pages that Dominique had translated, wanting to miss nothing. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Dominique calling him until he cleared his throat loudly.

"Um... C-Count?"

"What?" Fane snapped, glaring dangerously at the boy.

"I'm s-sorry to interrupt," Dominique apologized, his voice shaking in fear. "But I... I-I think I've found something that you might want to see."

Finally, Fane thought to himself as he motioned for Dominique to bring the papers to him. Dominique quickly obeyed and walked over to Fane, his hands trembling as he held out the papers to Fane, who quickly snatched them away. The whelp had better have a good reason for interrupting him.

"It's a... ritual of sorts," Dominique explained, struggling with choosing the right words to describe it. "Something to, um, detect, or sense, a curse that has been placed on someone-"

The Count held up his hand to silence Dominique, who quickly obliged. He nearly held his breath as Fane's sharp eyes quickly scanned the passage he had copied, watching the range of emotions pass over his face; first eagerness, then confusion, then annoyance. The younger mouse's heart pounded in terror as Fane glared at him when he was finished.

"And how exactly do you think this is useful to me?"

"Y-You spoke before of replicating a particular curse a-and placing it on someone else," Dominique stammered in fear. "The first step in doing that would be to know exactly what kind of curse has been placed on the person. A curse such as vampirism or lycanthropy, for instance, is easy to detect because the effects of the curse are physical and can be seen with the naked eye. Other curses aren't so visible on the surface as that." Dominique felt himself rambling as he always did when nervous and took a deep breath to make himself slow down and get to the point as he didn't want to make Fane more angry. "The ritual described here would be beneficial to someone wanting to remove whatever curse has been placed upon them. Identifying exactly what curse is there would aid in finding a way to break it."

"So you could use this method to replicate the curse detected in order to place it on someone else?"

"I don't know. There is nothing in this passage relating to copying or transferring a curse to another." Seeing that Fane was not happy with that answer Dominique hastily added, "But detecting the curse you want copied could possibly help me understand more about it. And there's still a good bit of Azu Vithel left to be translated. Maybe future pages will tell how to transfer or copy a curse."

Fane was quiet for a few moments seeming to think the matter over. "I have just the candidate for you to practice with. Ferka!" Fane suddenly shouted, causing Dominique to jump in surprise. A few moments later the slave Damien rushed into the room and hastily bowed in front of Fane, panting from running at hearing Fane's call as quickly as he could. Fane gestured at Damien bowing at his feet. "Well? Get on with it then."

Dominique stared in confusion. "But… But it will only work on someone who is cursed-"

An instant later Dominique found his airway cut off as Fane's hand locked around his throat. "Do not question me, boy," Fane hissed, exposing his fangs for emphasis. "Do as I say!"

"Y-yes Count," Dominique whispered, gasping for breath when Fane released him. He rubbed his neck painfully but quickly did as Fane said. He carefully removed Azu Vithel from the desk and kneeled on the floor in front of Damien, who sat with his head bowed and trembling slightly, awaiting orders. Dominique gently laid the book down on the floor beside him and studied the diagram drawn on the page.

"There has to be as little disturbance as possible between us for me to be able to detect anything…" Dominique switched to French so that Damien could understand. "So I need you to remove your shirt and lie down on your back, please."

Damien quickly obeyed and removed his shirt, revealing again his thin form. Guilt flooded Dominique as he watched Damien lay down and close his eyes, shivering in fear. He glanced at the book and gently placed his hands on Damien's torso near his heart as the diagram instructed, causing him to flinch at the touch. The poor mouse was so thin that Dominique could feel the bones in his chest and ribcage. Feeling Fane staring at him impatiently Dominique took a deep breath and slowly read the incantation from Azu Vithel. He could feel energy flowing through to his fingertips just as when he had healed Damien, but this felt different. Instead of simply healing flesh, he had to probe deeper beneath the surface of skin.

Fane tapped his foot growing more and more impatient as time slowly dragged on and nothing seemed to happen. "What is taking so long?" he demanded, causing Dominique to jump as he was so focused on the task. He gulped nervously before answering.

"I-I'm trying-"

"Try harder," Fane snapped. Dominique felt his heart even bother, he thought dejectedly to himself. He knew he would fail at this, and he didn't want to think about what Fane would do to him. Why did Fane even order him to do this anyway, what was the point if there was nothing there? Why would he have Dominique experiment on a slave if there was nothing to be gained? Feeling himself growing desperate Dominique closed his eyes and focused all his energy. He was pleading for something, anything, to make Fane happy and to get this over with.

After several long agonizing moments Dominique suddenly froze. Probing a little further he nearly gasped as he could actually sense something there. It was small, barely a flicker, but it was there. He didn't know what it was or how he found it, but he continued on, trying to locate it again. Fane watched him intently, noticing that something was different. He nearly held his breath in anticipation, not knowing what to expect.

After probing more Dominique sensed it again, but each time he located it and tried to get close it would disappear. However each time the force seemed to grow stronger. It wasn't until Damien let out a small whimper of pain that Dominique came back to his senses. He instantly removed his hands, causing Fane to frown. "Why did you stop?"

"I-It's hurting him," Dominique said quietly.

"That doesn't matter… Continue."

"No, I c-can't-"

"Have you forgotten what happened the last time you said 'no' to me?" Fane threatened.

"What more can you possibly do to me?!" Dominique yelled desperately. "You've already had me beaten and tortured, by this point I would welcome death! Anything would be better than this..."

"Who said anything about dying?" Fane smirked, causing chills to run through him. He had already gotten a taste of Fane's wrath and had seen what Fane did to Damien; there was no telling what other tortures awaited him should he refuse to cooperate again.

"P-Please," Dominique begged once more, but one look at Fane told him he would receive no mercy. Feeling his heart pounding in fear, he turned back and stared at Damien, who kept his eyes shut tightly and didn't dare move. "Je suis désolé…" Dominique whispered, his hands trembling as he moved them back to hover over Damien's chest. He recited the incantation once more, faltering when Damien showed signs of pain again. He spoke more quickly, hoping that the sooner he finished the less time Damien would have to be in pain. Thankfully it didn't take quite as long to locate this time, and using all his strength and energy Dominique tried to get as close as he could to the mysterious force. He was so close…

Dominique flinched when a sudden shock seemed to course through him. He recalled the warning whispers echoing in his head earlier when he first began, and for one frightening moment he wondered if he was going too far, crossing some kind of line. The shock itself was proof, as if a warning telling him not to continue. However Dominique was more terrified of Fane than he was of a little shock. He knew that whatever pain Fane would put him through would be far worse. So he continued on, ignoring the warning signs. He received several more shocks as a result but he didn't care. Failure was not an option at this point-

Without warning Dominique felt one final jolting shock before the connection suddenly broke off completely and he fell back with a painful grunt.

"What happened?" Fane growled.

"I… I don't know," Dominique said, panting breathlessly from the energy that had drained out of him. "There was something there, a very powerful and old magic, but I couldn't even touch it…" Dominique trailed off when he noticed that Damien had stopped breathing. "Oh no… no, no, no, please no!" he begged, his doctor's instincts kicking in as he crawled back over to the slave and tried to resuscitate him; but to Dominique's horror he could feel no pulse or heartbeat. "Oh god," Dominique gasped in horror, holding his head in his hands. "Oh god, I-Ikilledhim!"

"Yes, yes, what about this magic?" Fane said insistently, completely ignoring what had just happened as if it were an everyday occurrence.

Dominique glared at Fane as tears filled his eyes. "Magic?! A mouse is dead and all you care about is the damn magic?!"

"Be careful how you speak to me," Fane warned. "And why should I care about my slave?"

Dominique folded his ears and just stared at Fane with disbelief. How could anyone be so careless and cruel? So heartless? But realizing that Fane was waiting for an explanation made Dominique snap out of it. "I-I told you, I couldn't touch it. I don't know how to explain it; as soon as I detected it and tried to probe further, it shut off the connection. It was almost like a defense mechanism."

"But you could find it again?"

Dominique hesitated briefly before answering. "I could… but chances are it will just end with the same result. As soon as it senses me, it will kill the host to protect itself." He glanced over at Damien's body. "Whoever created this spell was much more powerful than I could ever be."

Fane seemed to be deep in thought for a few moments. "You would get more information if you were to find it again, would you not?"

"W-well, yes, but-"

"Then it's settled. We will continue this in a few hours."

Dominique looked up in shock but before he could say anything Fane had walked out of the room, leaving him alone with Damien's body. Dominique looked at the poor mouse sadly, hating himself for being the cause of his suffering. He had seen plenty of dead mice before as his field of study was medicine, but never did he imagine that he would be the cause of someone's death. The weight of everything that had happened over the last week began to crash down on him, and on top of it all he was now a murderer. He pulled his knees up to his chin and buried his face in his arms as he finally broke down.

As the events replayed in Dominique's mind over and over there was another thought that stood out to him. Fane had said something about that they would continue later… What did that mean? Would he be forced to do the same thing to another servant? How many would die before Fane was satisfied? How many in this castle had a curse on them that Fane wanted him to find and replicate? And what was his motive? What was the point to all this? His head was so full of questions it hurt.

Dominique was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a small noise. He glanced up through his tears with frightened eyes, afraid that Fane or Lars would come through the door any minute, but nothing happened. Maybe he was just paranoid, imagining things.

But then he heard it again. A barely audible sound almost like a sigh or gasp. He looked over at Damien's still form, feeling his heart nearly skip a beat when he thought he saw the slave's chest rise and fall slightly as if he were breathing. "No. T-That's impossible…" Dominique whispered to himself. It was just his imagination… or was it?

Dominique quickly crawled back to Damien and put his ear to his chest, and to his astonishment there was a heartbeat. It was weak, but definitely there. He jumped back in shock when Damien's eyes suddenly snapped open and he gasped sharply, only to squeeze them shut again in pain.

"H-How…? How are you a-alive?!" Dominique exclaimed in astonishment. He gulped as he thought of the powerful force he had come in contact with earlier. What kind of dark magic was this?

As Damien groaned it brought Dominique back to his senses. "Damien, can you hear me?" he called softly. At first he seemed too disoriented to give a response, but as soon as his eyes flickered opened and he realized that someone was looming over him Damien bowed his head as best he could and gasped out apologies in the three languages he knew.

"It's ok, don't be frightened," Dominique said softly, speaking in French as he gently put a hand on the slave's shoulder trying to calm him. Damien flinched at the touch and glanced up at him briefly seeming to recognize him, but he immediately averted his eyes again.

"I am sorry, Monsieur," Damien apologized again using French. Dominique shook his head.

"You've done nothing wrong. It's me who should be begging your forgiveness." As Damien looked up at him in confusion a sudden thought hit Dominique. "Wait… has this happened to you before?"

"Has what happened, Monsieur?" Damien asked nervously. "I'm sorry, Monsieur, I don't understand."

"Have you… died before, and woken up?"

"Y-Yes, Monsieur. All the time, Monsieur," Damien answered obediently.

Dominique stared in shock. "How many times has it happened?"

Damien's ears flattened and he closed his eyes in fear. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know, Monsieur. Master does as he pleases, Monsieur."

Dominique sat there feeling almost overwhelmed by it all. This couldn't be possible, Damien had been dead just moments before! No pulse, no heartbeat, nothing! And now not only was he breathing but he was awake and talking! He was weakened, yes, but still… How did a slave of a vampire Count get such a powerful curse upon him?

"How did this happen?" Dominique asked still in shock. "How did you become cursed?"

"I d-don't know, Monsieur," Damien answers fearfully. "I am sorry Monsieur, I do not remember."

Dominique just stared at him with pity. It was bad enough being Fane's slave, but how much more awful it would be being tortured and killed over and over again. To not even find peace or relief in wondered how long Damien had lived through this hell. Fane must not know how he became cursed either, or else he wouldn't have Dominique experimenting on him to find out more about the curse. One thing Dominique was sure of was that at some point Damien had to come across magic or a witch at some point in his past. It must have happened long ago if he couldn't even remember…

Dominiques eyes widened as another thought occurred to him. "Damien… how old are you?"

Before Damien could say anything Fane re-entered the room and smirked as he saw Damien lying there trembling. "Ah, he's awake. Good. Now we can start again."

"Wha- a-again?" Dominique asked horrified. He cringed when Fane turned his evil smirk on him.

"You failed the first time; now is the chance to redeem yourself."

"You can't be serious!" Dominique nearly yelled. "He is in need of medical attention-!" He flinched when Fane grabbed the collar of his shirt and yelled in his face.

"Do as I say, oryouwill be the one needing medical attention!" Dominique grunted as Fane released him, causing him to fall backwards. He backed away nervously staring in fright as Fane looked down at him. "Prove to me that I'm not wasting my time with you, or else I will have you begging for mercy and crawling into submission... Like him."

Fane suddenly snapped his fingers, and using all the strength he could muster Damien forced himself to crawl over to his Master. Being too weak to even bow he collapsed once he reached Fane and simply lay prostrate at his feet. Damien was panting with the effort and winced, a small groan escaping his lips as the pain racked his body. Dominique could only stare horrified at the scene. Damien had been killed mere minutes ago, why would he put himself through more pain to please Fane? How could he be so loyal and obedient to such a cruel mouse? As Damien trembled laying at his his master's feet while Fane only smirked in sick satisfaction, Dominique realized that it was the same reason why he himself had chills running down his spine at that very moment; fear. Everyone in this castle, including himself, had such fear of the Count that to disobey was simply not an option, not without harsh, painful, and often fatal consequences. Bowing his own head in defeat Dominique gave in and found himself nodding in obedience of his own. "Y-Yes… Count."

As the days passed Dominique fell back into his routine, although now in addition to his research Fane would force Dominique to experiment on Damien at some point in the day. Though that always ended the same as the first try, meaning Damien was killed several times on almost a daily basis. Which in turn, only added more and more to the guilt building up inside of Dominique. It was bad enough being forced to torture a fellow mouse; but to kill that mouse over and over and over, watching him struggle as the curse brought him back to life only to repeat the same process again… it was nearly more than Dominique could bare.

After a few weeks of this Dominique could stand it no longer. A small idea came to him as he watched Damien struggle while he slowly regained consciousness. He began to wonder if he could somehow use magic to ease Damien's pain as he came back to life. It couldn't be too difficult, the only difference from the other times that he had healed Damien is that he would be healing him from the inside as opposed to healing external wounds. It would be risky as Dominique knew that Fane probably wouldn't be happy about him wasting the time healing his slave, but if Fane didn't know then it wouldn't matter. So Dominique decided that he would try after the next session.

The opportunity came soon enough. As always Fane returned to observe the process as Dominique attempted to sense the spell on Damien, which ended as before with Damien's death. But this time as soon as Fane left the room Dominique ran and fell on his knees by Damien's side. With his hands hovering over Damien he quickly began reciting the healing spell hoping it would heal the damage and help him wake up easier with less pain. As he began the spell Dominique recognized that familiar hint of a voice whispering to him, but instead of feeling encouragement as before this time the voice felt cautious and warning. However Dominique pushed it aside and continued, and as he remained focused on the task the voice fell silent. Feeling the energy pulsing through his fingers Dominique looked for any sign of a response from Damien and after several agonizing minutes ticked by his worry grew. Something felt off and he didn't know why...

Dominique's heart raced as he sensed the dark magic on Damien that he had encountered before but he continued to recite the spell determined to heal him. Seconds later Damien's eyes suddenly shot open and a scream ripped out of his throat as his body began to convulse and twitch. Dominique jumped in surprise and stared horrified as Damien continued to scream and tremble in agony.

"Oh no..."What have I done?Dominique thought, an intense fear gripping him. He put his hands on Damien trying to calm him down but his shrieks didn't lessen at all. Tears came to Dominique's eyes as he watched Damien suffer and he was helpless to stop it. "No, no, please stop," Dominique begged, "p-please stop!"

"What the hell is going on in here-?!" Fane said as he burst through the door, his sensitive ears folding at the piercing sounds of the screams. He froze when he saw that the cries were coming from his slave. "Get away from him!" Fane yelled as he pulled Dominique away from Damien and tossed him aside. He stared with wide eyes watching Damien still writhing and twitching on the floor and screaming in pain. Fane turned on Dominique with his red eyes blazing. "What did you do?"

"I-I don't..."

Dominique was cut off as Fane struck him in the face harshly before grabbing him by the throat and pulling him up on his knees. "Answer me, witch! What the hell did you do?!"

The younger mouse gasped desperately for breath. "I-I just... I was just t-trying to help-!"

"How?" Fane demanded. "Tell meexactlywhat you did to him!"

"I tried to heal him!" Dominique cried, wincing and choking as Fane slowly squeezed his throat harder. "I thought if... if I healed him he would… w-wake up faster and with less pain!"

Fane's mind raced as he watched his slave. Each time Damien had come back to life the curse had healed the most deadly injuries by itself and Damien was always unconscious when it happened. Dominique's spell must have done something to interfere with the curse. How would that affect Damien? Would he actually die this time as it was magic interrupting magic?

After finally releasing Dominique Fane knelt down by Damien and grabbed his wrist feeling for a pulse, folding his ears as the slave continued to cry out. To Fane's horror, he felt no pulse. What would happen when Damien stopped screaming? Would he stay dead? All his work would be lost if Damien died now. He was so close to finding a solution. Damien couldn't die now!

After a few agonizing moments Fane noticed a slight change in Damien's screams. Again he felt for a pulse and to Fane's immense relief he felt the blood faintly begin to pulse through Damien's veins as his heart slowly resumed beating. Fane let out an audible sigh of relief and was surprised to find his hands were actually shaking. Realizing just how close he had been to losing his slave made Fane remember the one who almost ruined everything. Dominique clutched his bruised throat and shrank back in terror as Fane turned to glare at him with rage burning in his blood tinted eyes. The anger built more and more as Fane also realized that Lars had been right all along; Dominique was deliberately using magic while Fane was not around. However Fane determined to squash this little stunt of rebellion right then and there.

"Do you see what you have done? Do you see what youcouldhave done?!" Fane growled, his voice starting as a low whisper but rising slowly louder. "All that work will be gone if he doesn't wake up from the dead!"

"I-I'm sorry," Dominique whispered in fright with tears in his eyes. "I'm so, so sorry-"

"Sorry isn't good enough," Fane sneered. "This is what happens when you try your little magic tricks! You have no knowledge of what you are doing! You are only making everything worse! How do you expect to be of any help to anyone if you continue these games?!" Dominique cried out as the Count grabbed a fistful of his hair, jerking his head up forcing him to watch Damien suffer. "Take a good look!" Fane shouted pointing at his slave writhing on the floor. "This is where your little magical adventures will take you! This is what happens when you disobey me!"

Tears were falling from Dominique's amber eyes as Fane suddenly released him and walked over to Damien, reached down and grabbed his head, and sharply twisted it to the side breaking his neck killing him instantly. Dominique winced at the sickening crunch of bone breaking and a sob escaped his throat. Fane was right. This was all his fault. Everything he did was wrong, every decision he made was wrong.

Fane sighed and walked over to Dominique,who flinched and backed away until his back hit the wall. Fane crouched down in front of him so that Dominique would have to look him in the eyes. "Do you see now? Only I know what is right." He gestured at Damien, who finally lay still. "This is the consequences ofyouractions without proper knowledge. Knowledge that I alone possess. So as long as you obey me, I can ensure this never happens again."

Feeling himself slowly crumble Dominique finally broke away from Fanes gaze and hung his head, letting the tears fall down his cheeks onto the carpet. Fane turned to leave the boy wallowing in his own grief but paused at the door. "And by the way…" Dominique slowly glanced up through the bangs hanging in his eyes. "This is your final warning, witch."

Dominique felt his heart pounding and he stared at the door even after Fane had left. His eyes slowly went back to Damien's body and he felt a sob rise in his throat. He had done that, with his own two hands. Feeling himself begin to hyperventilate Dominique curled on the floor as tears overcame him, feeling like his heart was breaking in two as he slowly lost all hope.

Standing outside the door Fane smiled to himself as he heard Dominique's sobs. Finally the little whelp was learning his place. It had taken a while but at last he had gotten inside the boy's head, manipulating him by using his feelings for his slave. With Dominique in the palm of his hand, he was just that much closer to accomplishing his goals.

"Curând, iubirea mea," Fane said quietly as he left to resume his duties.

**Authors notes:**

**Finally finished. This has probably been one of my favorite fics I've ever written. I don't know why it just is. Maybe it's because Damien and Dominique hold a special place in my heart, stupid as that sounds. I'm sorry for torturing you, my babies!D':**

**Many many thanks to my cowriterMimmiMe for all those days and nights of helping me write this. I seriously couldn't do it without you 3**

**I hope all the magic stuff makes sense. If anyone is confused about any of it just ask me and I'll try to explain.**

**If you want to know more about Fane's "previous encounter with a witch" go read /d7c2p63byMimmiMe. Actually go read her entire story about Damien, it's amazing!**

**If you're wondering about Lars' curse you'll just have to wait for "Echoes of the Past" to find out more:D**

**Speaking of which: now that this fic is done, "Echoes of the Past" is next... and the prologue is already finished so I will upload that within the next day or so Yes Dominique and Damien will be a big part of it, and yes Basil and Amber will return. Along with some other OCs you might recognize.**

**Thank you all for being so patient with me. My job prevents me from writing and drawing as much as I used to but I appreciate the ones who still follow this series and still read it 3**

**Credits:**

**Fane and Dominique (c)me**

**Damien Ferka Sorena (c)MimmiMe**

**Lars Maurus (c)NightMagican**

**Next Fic in the series: Echoes of the Pas**t


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